Ayaz Ahmed
Had resource-rich Balochistan not been plagued by massive corruption and cronyism, the province would have been the most developed federating unit in the country. After the recent plea bargain of NAB with the former finance secretary, it seems that the entrenched corruption, nepotism and bad governance will continue to aggravate the economic depravity, political instability and fragile security of Balochistan.
NAB was widely applauded when it had seized bags of money, bonds and foreign currency worth over Rs730 million from former finance secretary Mushtaq Raisani’s Quetta house in May this year. After the in-depth investigation, it was found that the corrupt bureaucrat also own a dozen houses in Karachi worth around Rs2 billion. The finance secretary was accused of embezzling billions of rupees from the funds of toothless and under-resourced local government of Balochistan.
Had resource-rich Balochistan not been plagued by massive corruption it would have been the most developed federating unit in the country
After NAB’s raid, the disillusioned people of Balochistan took a sign of relief that the accountability bureau would rid their province of gigantic corruption, nepotism and blatant pilfering of natural resources. However, the controversial plea bargain of NAB has flabbergasted them, and now they suspect the seriousness of NAB and the federal government in terms of cleansing the province of corruption and nepotism.
After thorough investigation, the Executive Board Meeting (EBM) of NAB estimated Mr Raisani’s corruption figure at Rs40 billion. Out of the blue, now the EBM has accepted the plea bargain of just only Rs2 billion of Mr Raisani and Sohail Majeed Shah, the contractor and front man of Khalid Lango — former advisor to the chief minister Balochistan.
The ill-conceived decision of NAB has set an ill-boding precedent in corruption-infested Balochistan. Presumably, the plea bargain will encourage fortune-seeking politicians and bureaucrats to further misappropriate province’s depleting resources rather than curb the menace of mega corruption. In a nutshell, NAB’s decision is tantamount to showing the safe door of amassing ill-gotten money to crooked politicians and civil servants so that they continue doling out the resources of Balochistan.
Almost all public departments and institutions of Balochistan are gripped by persuasive corruption and misapplication of development funds. However, NAB has confined its accountability dragnet to the former finance secretary and his accomplices. The question remains: Who will bring to book the rest of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats in the province?
As per credible reports, billions of rupees were blatantly misappropriated by the government of Aslam Raisani from 2008 to 2013. He made illegal appointments to the Quetta Electricity Supply Company (Qesco) with the support of former premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and violated the rules in the appointments of three tehsildars in different cities as well.
With looted amount, he has unlawfully established businesses and is currently living a luxurious life in the scenic city of Islamabad. During his tenure, Balochistan did not make any headways, but further regressed on political, socio-economic and educational fronts. Sadly, terrorists and militant outfits such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi capitalised on Raisani’s bad governance by mercilessly massacring a large number of hapless Hazaras. Being the sole accountability bureau, NAB is responsible for recovering and returning this hefty amount to the cash-strapped Balochistan.
The National Party’s leader — Dr Abdul Malik Baloch — was nominated as chief minister of Balochistan after the May 2013 elections. He appointed Mushtaq Raisani as secretary finance and Khalid Lango as finance advisor. It is unthinkable that a bureaucrat and an advisor could preside over a vast provincial and inter-provincial corruption network without the knowledge and collusion of their political superiors.
It is beyond any doubt that the former nationalist government was in complicit with Mr Raisani and Mr Lango in squandering the resources of Balochistan. It is a pity that the PML-N has clipped the wings of NAB so that it cannot unearth the massive corruption scandals of the so-called nationalist government.
The former chairman of the Balochistan Public Service Commission (BPSC), Ashraf Magsi, kept selecting politically favourite candidates to posts of grade 17 and over for quite a long time. Magsi issued fake certificates to his two daughters, a son and a woman for acquiring key posts in government departments. He was also reported to have misused funds worth of millions of rupees. The erstwhile provincial government of Aslam Raisani and the former governor kept pressurising Mr Magsi for selecting their candidates to different posts. No concrete measures have been taken to recover the pillaged money and cancel the illegal postings made by Mr Magsi.
Despite receiving over Rs1200 billion from Islamabad since 2008, Balochistan is still the most backward province in the country. It badly lacks a satisfactory educational, transport and healthcare infrastructure. Powerful provincial politicians along with like-minded bureaucrats have either diverted this hefty amount into their secret bank accounts or buried it under their houses as Mr Raisani did. It is sad to note that both Supreme Court and Balochistan High Court have so far remained silent spectators watching unbridled embezzlement of provincial resources.
On account of corruption and mismanagement of Balochistan’s resources, the literacy rate of the province is stagnant at 44 percent. Most educational institutions are bereft of basic facilities, and they do not have well-educated and trained teachers so that they can impart quality education. Therefore, the students from Balochistan cannot compete with those of Sindh, Punjab and KP in the CSS and other competitive examinations.
Much of the provincial budgetary allocation to education is systematically embezzled and diverted to bank accounts of influential politicians and bureaucrats. Lack of quality education, technical training and job opportunities has compelled over 71 percent of Balochistan’s population to live in multidimensional poverty. A large number of people do not have access to potable water, basic healthcare facilities and electricity.
The controversial plea bargain of NAB does not bode well for the economic prosperity of Balochistan. The province is rich in precious natural resources such as gold, copper and gas and possesses an exceptional geostrategic and geo-economic location. More importantly, the mega seaport of Gwadar is also located in the province; Gwadar is projected to be the trade hub of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East in the near future.
The Supreme Court should intervene in a timely manner and direct NAB to scrap the plea bargain with the former finance secretary and his accomplices. After fully recovering the stolen money, the corrupt officials should be stringently punished so that the rest of the bureaucracy and politicians avoid plundering the resources of Balochistan. NAB should also commence investigations into the alleged corrupt practices of former provincial set-ups of the PPP and the National Party.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are those of the author and Balochistan Voices not necessarily agrees with them.
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