From the Newspaper | Bureau Report

PESHAWAR, May 28: The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa consider high inflation their most serious problem followed by massive unemployment and excessive loadshedding in the province, according to a recent UNDP-funded survey.

They also complained about bad condition of roads, poor sewerage system and inadequate educational facilities sector in the province.

Findings of the survey titled ‘Social Audit of Local Governance and Delivery of Public Services, 2011-12,’ were released during a function at a local hotel.

The UNDP had done the survey with the help of researchers from the country’s eight public sector universities.

According to Azhar Saeed Malik, who headed the UNDP core research team, which conducted the survey, such social audits have been conducted since 2001.

“It is right of the people to have their opinion on local governance and delivery of services. It is also important to obtain the people’s feedback on adequacy and quality of public service,” he said.

Mr Malik said he was in contact with the relevant government officials for incorporation of the survey findings in the relevant policies.

Zafar Habib, a teacher and researcher from IM Sciences, presented the survey report, which showed how people felt about local governance and service delivery in the province over the last two years.

According to the report, the quality of public service in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has deteriorated over the last two years. “A total of 51 per cent were dissatisfied with the condition of the roads, 68.2 per cent unhappy with sewerage and sanitation facilities, 68 per cent concerned about poor garbage disposal, and 36 per cent dissatisfied with public transport service.

Likewise, 50 per cent people were dissatisfied with educational facilities and quality of education,” it said.

The report also said people had little faith in government schools as for provision of quality education.

It said the people’s perceptions were quite different from those of the government functionaries.

“Around 85 per cent of people have no access to government provided transport service in the country. Although 97 per cent of the people have electricity connections, majority of them are dissatisfied due to frequent power outages,” it said.

The report said 60.1 per cent of the people in the country favoured the return of the elected local government system and that 45.9 per cent of the people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wanted the same.

It added that when the people were asked whether they would vote if local government elections were held, 80.8 per cent replied in affirmative.

According to the report, interestingly, 59 per cent of the people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said police gave them a sense of security and protection, while 59.6 per cent of the people expressed satisfaction with the performance of the courts.

Later, the chief guest and the provincial information minister, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, told reporters that undoubtedly, many people in the province had no access to facilities, especially public transport, but he felt satisfied that the government was ensure provision of all possible facilities to the people.

He said natural calamities had destroyed roads and the government had to rebuild them and that was why the people’s concerns about roads were right to some extent.

The minister said the province was faced with a difficult situation as schools were bombed. He said it was a revolutionary change that people were satisfied with the courts.