A leader with a difference

The new Punjab Government is on a mission to rectify the widespread and institutionalised wrongs done by the local governments, nazims and elected representatives during the past six years. A period that has become synonymous with misuse, misappropriation, pilferage and neglect during which billions of rupees of hard earned money of the people was plundered and wasted. The Patron Saint of the mission to rectify the wrongs is no less than the Punjab Chief Minister, Mian Shahbaz Sharif.
Mian Shahbaz Sharif has been applauded by politicians, bureaucrats and by the voters for his brave stance on a more open, transparent and answerable form of government. Despite opposition from powerful vested interests, he has already fought for and won support for his position on auditing the local government public accounts using external auditors of repute. Major incomplete infrastructure projects that had come to a state of dead halt and decay under the outgoing government have been revived through intensive care and personal attention. Progress can already be witnessed on the Lahore Ring Road, Thokar Niaz Baig Flyover, Kasur Road, and a stir in the Main Hospitals administrations etc. Wheat smuggling has been brought under control with procurement process as a first step towards controlling the prices at the shops.
Mian Shahbaz Sharif is laying the foundations for the form of governance that he expects to be practiced by everyone in his government. Walks through the overflowing sewages following heavy rainfall have been followed up by strict actions and monitoring. Midnight inspections of important institutions have served to deliver a strong message that everyone is accountable.
The ‘Open Kutchery’ has already begun to be copied by no less than the Governor of Punjab. Visits to remote villages to personally enquire from the people about education, health and basic facilities in the area are inspirational. Sitting with his Secretaries of Education, Health and other departments on “charpoys” to take note of the problems of the people and identify immediate remedial actions. By putting himself and his team face-to-face with the problems of the people and communicating with them, Mian Shahbaz Sharif is showing the way for overcoming the cognitive hurdles that block institutions from recognizing the need for radical change. In doing so, he is not only closing off potentially fatal resistance from powerful vested interests but also solving the motivational and inspirational problem that has become institutionalised in our bureaucracy and politics through years of neglect.