Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Youth: Participating in Positive Activities - Role of DCs and DSOs

 

Peshawar: Young people are a major 50 percent of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's population. According to a 2020-21 survey, in rural as well as urban areas, males are 50.57% and females 49.42% of the population. In rural areas, covering 84.04% of the population, males are 42.27% and females are 41.77%. The remaining 15.96% live in urban localities, of which males comprise 8.30% and females 7.65%. The survey, made in association with the labor force, revealed that the greatest density of population in rural as well as urban areas is in the 5-9 year age group, followed by the 10-14 and 15-19 year group. Although gender proportions differ, official figures indicate that the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa contains a higher percentage of people in these age brackets than do other provinces.

Youth are the future of any country, and the engagement of young people in constructive activities is the duty of both the state and all members of society. An important question that the provincial Ministry of Youth and Sports needs to answer is how the energy of these youth is being directed towards positive activities. Essentially, this ministry has the responsibility of not only promoting youth engagement in positive activities but also providing opportunities for them.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa consists of thirty-five districts, including the merged tribal districts. Peshawar is the most populous district, followed by Mardan and Swat. Other districts are Swabi, Charsadda, Dera Ismail Khan, Mansehra, Nowshera, Lower Dir, Abbottabad, Bannu, Kohat, Bajaur, Haripur, Khyber, Upper Dir, Lakki Marwat, Buner, Shangla, South Waziristan, Malakand, Karak, Kurram, North Waziristan, Battagram, Mohmand, Hangu, Tank, Upper Kohistan, Orakzai, Lower Kohistan, Lower Chitral, Kolai Palas, Torghar, and Upper Chitral.

A summary of the provincial sports policy designed in 2018 indicates that the provincial government has made efforts to support sporting activities for the last half-decade, but such efforts have remained mainly limited to big cities. This is seen as a reflection of the fact that talented sports personalities mainly come from some particular districts where several sporting activities are regularly organized. At present, more than thirty-eight sports bodies are functioning in the province but have headquarters in Peshawar. A few associations are on paper with purported representation in the province but have no effective offices in Peshawar or other districts and appear to be doing nothing except paperwork. Just as provincial sports directorate governs sports activities in Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda, and some other districts via District Sports Officers, only a few sports associations actually carry out events. Sports activities in the other districts exist on paper and are few in number.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sports Directorate has posted District Sports Officers (DSOs) in nearly all thirty-five districts. Their work mainly involves bringing different sports activities at the district level and developing grassroots talent in various sports. But since the declaration of the 2018 sports policy, it is mostly unknown how many districts have truly organized notable sports events or made efforts to activate the youth and improve sports grounds. Except for a few districts, there is deafening silence everywhere else. Five percent of the district budget is allocated for youth and sports activities under regulations. However, one wonders how many DSOs, excluding Charsadda, Peshawar, and Mardan, have conducted competitions, spent their share of allocated budget, and performed worthwhile sports activities worth their salaries and incentives. Although some committed DSOs regularly organize sports activities in their respective districts, others look like they are just collecting salaries. Some DSOs and RSOs of some districts give more support and emphasis to departmental competitions, which provide greater benefits and less inconvenience, over their core responsibility of developing grassroots talent. This basic issue needs to be addressed by the Advisor to the Chief Minister on Sports, the Secretary Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the Director General Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

There is a need to challenge the performance of most DSOs, who earn handsome salaries and allowances, in terms of the number of sports competitions held, the number of athletes developed in various disciplines, the number of provincial and national-level players developed in their districts (both female and male), the total amount of sports money spent at the district level in all thirty-five districts, the number of active sports associations that are truly working in their stated areas of representation, the number of operational clubs, and what efforts DSOs are making to advertise for and get new clubs registered in their respective districts. Though the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the district is the controlling officer of the DSO and may inquire into these issues, the Provincial Sports Directorate, which commissions these officers and reimburses their salaries (as well as DCs' salaries) from public funds, also has the right to ask for accountability on sports activities, the status of their respective sports complexes, and the registration of new clubs, including revenue collected in this way.

These are basic questions which should be raised to the District Sports Officers who are appointed at the district level. In the same vein, the civil government must make transfers and promotions of Deputy Commissioners a top priority on the basis not just of political motives or increased remuneration but of their performance in ensuring law and order, generating revenue, and playing an active role in enhancing sporting activity and involving the youth in positive endeavors, accompanied by periodic reports of athlete numbers developed at district level, the number of competitions sponsored and subsidized within their two-year tenure. Only afterwards should promotions be given consideration. Otherwise, the existing trend among the majority of DCs of publishing photos and self-advertisement runs the risk of being replicated by District Sports Officers who also think they are Grade 17 officers earning benefits without necessarily performing their core responsibilities.

 

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