Eighty Million Rupees on Wheels, Zero Accountability on Foot

 

Musarrat Ullah Jan – KikxNow , Digital Creator

If satire were a sport, our sports administration would be Olympic level. Unfortunately, what we are witnessing is not satire written by a columnist. It is satire performed by the system itself, live, without shame, and funded by public money.

The latest episode comes from Peshawar Sports Complex, where a turf cleaning machine worth around eighty million rupees was recently “deployed” to Swabi for cleaning a hockey turf. Deployed is the official word. Dragged would be the honest one.

After nearly two years of standing idle, the machine was finally moved. Not started. Not operated. Moved. Its tyres had no air. Its engine had no urgency. And the system behind it had no answers. The machine was pushed by hand and loaded onto a vehicle, in a scene that looked less like public service and more like a village ritual. The comparison that immediately came to mind was how sacrificial animals are forced into pickup trucks before Eid. Same resistance. Same chaos. Same crowd pretending everything is normal.

This is not just about a machine. It is about the mindset that bought it, parked it, forgot it, and then suddenly remembered it when optics were needed.

Let us start with the most basic question. Why did a machine worth eighty million rupees remain unused for almost two years? Was there no turf to clean in Peshawar during this time? Or did dirt politely wait for permission from the department before settling on hockey grounds?

We are told that the machine even had a designated operator throughout this period. A full time operator. For a non moving machine. Imagine the job description. Report to duty. Inspect the machine. Confirm that it is still not working. Go home. Repeat for two years. In any serious system, this would be a scandal on its own. Here, it barely raises an eyebrow.

Now we are told that this same machine will clean the rink filled turf in Swabi. This is where comedy turns into tragedy. Anyone with basic knowledge of hockey infrastructure knows that turf maintenance is not cosmetic work. A neglected turf cannot be fixed by symbolic cleaning. It requires regular maintenance, proper equipment, trained staff, and above all, planning. Sending a long dormant machine on a road trip does not qualify as planning.

But planning was never the objective. The objective was movement. Visibility. A photo opportunity. Something to show when questions are asked. In our system, work is not measured by results but by relocation. If something moves from point A to point B, it is considered progress, regardless of whether it actually works at point B.

The real insult lies in the confidence with which this entire exercise was carried out. No embarrassment. No explanation. No internal accountability. The machine was pushed openly, in public view, as if this was perfectly acceptable. That confidence does not come from innocence. It comes from habit. From knowing that nothing will happen.

This incident exposes a deeper disease. We do not lack money in sports. We lack seriousness. We do not lack equipment. We lack systems. We do not lack slogans. We lack responsibility.

Eighty million rupees is not a small amount in a province where athletes struggle for basic facilities. Where players buy their own kits. Where hockey grounds are abandoned. Where talent is wasted due to neglect. Every time such a machine stands idle, it is not just metal that rusts. Trust rusts. Credibility rusts. The future of sports rusts.

The usual defense will arrive soon, if it has not already. Technical issues. Procurement delays. Administrative complications. Weather conditions. Someone will blame someone else. A committee may even be formed. Files will move. Nothing will change.

And let us be honest. This is not an isolated case. It is just one visible example. For every machine that is dragged into a truck, there are dozens of silent failures buried inside files and reports. Ghost events. Inflated budgets. Activities that exist only on paper. Facilities that exist only in speeches.

What makes this case special is the visual honesty of it. The system accidentally revealed itself. It showed us exactly how things work when no script is prepared. When the machine refused to cooperate, the system did what it always does. It pushed harder and hoped no one would ask why.

The irony is painful. Hockey, a sport that once defined national pride, is now being served by equipment that cannot even move on its own. Grounds that should produce champions are now dependent on machinery that has not been cared for since purchase. This is not mismanagement. This is neglect with confidence.

One must also ask who approved the purchase of this machine. On what basis. Was there a maintenance plan. Was there training. Was there an audit of usage. Or was the purchase itself the final goal. In many cases, buying is the achievement. Using is optional.

This is how public money disappears without technically being stolen. No envelopes. No raids. Just slow decay. Assets bought, parked, ignored, and eventually justified as failures beyond control.

The most disturbing part is the normalization of all this. No official felt the need to explain why a premium machine had to be pushed. No inquiry was announced. No apology was offered to the players whose turf is now being used as a testing ground for a mechanical resurrection.

If this machine fails in Swabi, which is a real possibility, the blame will quietly shift. The turf was too damaged. The conditions were unsuitable. The expectations were unrealistic. The machine will return. The story will end. Until the next episode.

But the question remains. How many more such machines are sleeping across the province. How many operators are operating nothing. How many facilities exist only because budgets once existed.

This is not governance. This is theatre. Expensive, poorly rehearsed theatre funded by the public.

Until accountability becomes routine rather than optional, until performance is measured by outcomes rather than movements, and until embarrassment returns to public office, we will continue to see machines pushed instead of systems fixed.

The machine had no air in its tyres. The system has no pressure in its conscience. And that is the real problem.

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