ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman on Monday regretted that the government had no intention of giving relief or paying attention to the real issues of the people of Pakistan, including load shedding, water security and the entitlement to food. “The government clearly has other priorities as it has failed to keep the promises it made in 2013 to light up Pakistan, let alone feed Pakistan,” she added. The senator said that it was shocking that no funds had so far been released for the all-important ‘Energy for All’ and ‘Clean Drinking Water for All’ initiatives. “Instead of working towards securing energy, food and water projects, and the government has disbursed all the funds earmarked for parliamentarians’ development schemes. Its priorities are clearly another kind of politics from the kind we need or believe in. It is indeed tragic that we left a wheat secure country in 2013, and that too has been allowed to slide.” Addressing a Senate motion on food and security on Monday, the senator informed the House that six out of 10 citizens in Pakistan were food insecure and almost 50% women and specifically children under five years of age were malnourished. “It is also shocking to witness that an estimated 50 percent of the population is without access to clean drinking water. The federal government is either unaware of the facts or is criminally negligent,” she said. “Since 2013, the citizens of Pakistan have been deprived of almost every basic necessity, as the government has done nothing but deceived our nation with false promises,” said Sherry Rehman. “It is shocking and shameful that this government after four years of full powers does not have a consistent and coherent food, water or energy security policy framework, nor does it seem to be bothered by our nation’s slide into mass poverty. If we see the performance of this government for the last four years, it has done little or nothing to invest in development projects, which directly benefit the poor and the vulnerable.” The senator said that there was only one conclusion that could be drawn from looking at all this inaction and hierarchy of priorities taken by the government that it had no interest in ensuring our fundamental entitlements. “Pakistan deserves better than this,” concluded the senator. Published in Daily Times, August 22nd 2017.