Before the 2013 elections, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s (PTI) Imran Khan vowed to make Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) a model province of Pakistan. He made numerous promises with the people of KP, which included the provision of a uniform education system, more health care facilities, reforming the police department, providing pure drinking water and so on.

These promises have not been fulfilled, yet Imran Khan continues to brag about change in the province. Let me tell you the real story behind the headlines he make.

Education is the basic right of every citizen. According to Article 25-A of the Constitution of Pakistan, the state has to provide free and compulsory education to all children aged five to sixteen years. But the provincial government has failed to provide proper basic education to its citizens. There are no proper and sufficient classrooms for students. Teachers are seldom qualified to teach, are mostly incompetent and they use students for manual labour and other domestic activities.

All the schools and colleges of rural areas are in very bad conditions while on the other hand the provincial government has allocated funds to privately owned madrassas. All these malpractices are being ignored by the KP provincial government. They need to take quick action against these practices instead of making tall claims of bringing about change and reform.

There is no questioning the fact that the prosperity and development of a state mainly depends upon the health of citizens. If the citizens are physically fit then the state can progress in every field of life. But the condition of health care in KP is very bad. There is a general lack of health care facilities. People belonging to rural areas have to travel to the main cities like Islamabad and Peshawar to get health care. In government hospitals, many doctors are absent throughout the day with no one to hold them accountable for their actions. There is also an insufficiency of medicines and modern instruments required for different surgeries.

In my opinion, the KP provincial government has failed miserably in reforming the healthcare sector. So it’s the primary duty of the government to take bold action for the betterment of the dilapidated healthcare sector. Slogans of change alone can’t bring change unless some practical measures are taken.

Another point to be made is that for the last three years, Imran Khan has been claiming that he made the KP police accountable to public and free from corruption, which to me is just another tall claim lacking any real substance. In rural areas, drug trade and weapon smuggling is rampant, all in the presence and knowledge of Imran Khan’s so-called reformed police. The police does not take any action against these activities but is in fact a party to the illegal businesses, particularly the Station House Officers (SHOs).

Besides that, there is massive misuse of the Protection of Pakistan Act (PPA). PPA is terrorism-centric law and ordinary criminals cannot be registered under it. But in KP any SHO who has a grudge against someone can and does detain that person under this act for a month or two. No one can question them because apparently the police is answerable to none.

Ask the District Police Officer (DPO) and he will stand beside his frontline field officer, so on and so forth – they act as one unit. To prove my point further, I cannot resist the temptation to give an example of my own village. In my village Ghazni Khel at District Lakki Marwat, there is an SHO by the name of Haider Ali Shah, who has become the biggest law violater and drug dealer. Everyone knows that he has made millions out of drugs trade. He will often take a popular, well propagated action against ordinary criminals to gravitate himself to his bosses, but in the background will allow many to keep up their criminal activities as long as gets his cut. Typical ‘thana’ culture.Will Imran Khan or his party rulers inquire about him. Are these the police reforms that he talks about?

Other than that there is the issue of drinking water. In many areas people are still deprived of drinking water, such as Lakki Marwat, Tank and so on. People in these districts are forced to drink rain water which causes many waterborne diseases. KP Government needs to solve this issue.

The PTI government in KP has launched Chief Minister Complaint cell to eliminate corruption, injustice, inequality and anti-social elements. Recently, I made a complaint about our village tubewell through email; and also called five times to the CM’s complaint cell, but could not get any response to my complaint. If the CM’s complaint cell fails to hear the problems of common people, you can imagine what happens in other departments of KP government.

Government and respective authorities must take some quick steps especially in the field of education, water, health and the police force. The provincial government must solve these basic problems of the KP people, especially if the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf wants to survive in KP and win the next elections.