Demand for efficient spending of education, health budgets

A charity leader has urged civil society organizations to launch adequate lobbying efforts to ensure that billions of rupees are allocated annually by the federal and provincial governments as public education and health budgets become more efficient. And should be spent in a transparent manner so as to change the destiny of millions of people from the deprived sections. .

Zahid Saeed, CEO of the non-profit Green Crescent Trust (GCT), said this while speaking as the chief guest at the Youth Excellence Awards 2024 organized by the NGO Youth Impact.

Saeed said that the federal and provincial governments in the country allocate billions of rupees every year to run the public education and health system, but due to a complete lack of accountability and efficiency, the poor families have not benefited much from such huge budgetary outlays. would find

He said that proper research conducted by his non-profit organization has proven that the education budget of the federal, provincial and territorial governments combined is almost equal to the defense budget of the country.

He lamented that despite allocating such massive funds, the problem of out-of-school children is nowhere close to being solved, rather it is getting worse. He added that the government could not enroll nearly 26 million out-of-school children in the country.

Highlighting the role of sincere and sincere welfare institutions in educating the illiterate children in the country, he told the audience that GCT started its journey 30 years ago with just a charity school in a remote area of ​​Gharbi district. was He said that GCT now runs a network of 170 charitable schools in remote and deprived areas of Sindh, with an enrollment of over 33,000 students from deprived families.

“About 46 percent of our students are girls, and many of them, after completing their schooling, will join us as teachers and school principals in the next 8 to 10 years to further our cause. ”

He thanked donors and philanthropists whose generous support is helping GCT continue its fight against illiteracy in the province.

He pointed out that his not-for-profit school started in neglected areas where there was no school facility from the government or the private sector before.

“During our journey, we uncovered two myths: one, we always get full support from local landlords to open schools in our villages, and second, the underprivileged communities in Sindh to educate their girls. Never get discouraged.”

Dr. Abdul Bari Khan, founder of Indus Hospital and Health Network, in his closing remarks, praised the extraordinary humanitarian and charitable support whenever the country faces any distressing situation including earthquakes, floods and Covid-19.

Dr. Khan said committed charities are working shoulder to shoulder with the government to provide health, education and livelihood opportunities to underprivileged families. Representatives of other non-profit organizations including Al-Khidmat Foundation, Orange Tree Foundation and Character Education Foundation also spoke on this occasion.