Jhang in a shambles despite utilisation of huge funds

JHANG: Billions of rupees public funds have been utilised during the last many years for the development of the oldest district of Pakistan, Jhang, created by the British rulers in 1849, but it is still in a shambles.

Political and social circles have pointed out multiple reasons behind the backwardness of Jhang district. Jhang is known at the international level due to the shrine of Hazrat Sultan Bahu and the tomb of Heer Ranjha.

According to district gazetteer, at the time of the establishment of Jhang as the district headquarters, its eastern boundary was common with the districts of Sheikhupura, Multan, Sahiwal and Sargodha, which were the parts of the Jhang district. The entire Faisalabad district was a tehsil of Jhang district and it awarded the status of the district headquarters in 1904. Later, after awarding divisional headquarters status to Faisalabad, Jhang district came under the administrative control of Faisalabad division. The limits of Jhang district were further reduced when its tehsil Chiniot became a separate district in 2009.

During the rules of PPP, PML-Q and PML-N, politicians of Jhang district enjoyed portfolios of federal and provincial ministers, but Jhang district continuously became shrinking. The history pointed out that elite class of the district also enjoyed the luxurious status during the dictatorships and in caretaker government setups.

The Jhang district since 1849 had no proper university campus, no medical college, no industrial state and had no railway infrastructure to access big cities.

Some people while talking to The News pointed out the DHQ hospital and other public health facilities of the district required up-gradation, but funds have allegedly been utilised for creating further posts of doctors and paramedics on the basis of unverified data. They further said that the Highway Department SDO’s offices had been upgraded into the offices of XENs, but not a single highway and link road is in a good condition for smooth flow of traffic. The citizens said that the education and health departments’ buildings needed reconstruction but the Building Department has upgraded the building rest house into a circuit house. The district administration, instead of ensuring completion of public development projects, is busy upgrading the Officers Club into Gymkhana.

Former District Public Safety Commission chairman Syed Shabbar Raza was of the view that the role of the political elites of the district was the main reason behind the backwardness of the district.

Jhang Chamber of Commerce and Industry former president Muhammad Yaqoob Sheikh said that during his term of president-ship he worked hard and visited federal and provincial government offices for the approval of Jhang Industrial Estate, but the matter is still pending because of unavailability of support by the administrative and political leadership of the district.

Former MNA Sheikh Akram said that during his tenure he got the University of Jhang project approved and utilised funds for electrification of villages and provision of gas to urban localities, awaiting basic utility services for years. He further said that less budgets for public institutions, including district council and municipalities of the district, were the main reason for slow development and progress of the district.

When contacted, DC Muhammad Tahir Wattoo said that he was taking steps for the development of the district. He directed the heads of different departments to ensure early completion of road and building projects, which had been pending for the last many years. He said that he was trying to improve municipality services by enhancing municipality infrastructure and capacity of staffers.