Band 6+: Public celebration (such as national days, festivals and so on) are held in most countries. These are often quite expensive, and some people say that governments should spend money on more useful things. Do you agree or disagree?

These days the government invests more funds to celebrate various festivals in its country to demonstrate patriotism, unity, and pride. However, it is argued among citizens that the nation should focus on public improvement plans and should invest more in the same. I agree with this view because the government allocates little to no budget for education plans for rural people and lacks the required talents among government workers who fail to plan for crisis moments.

First of all, the budget allotted for implementing a free educational system throughout the country is less than that of the celebrations. This is simply because the ruling systems are prioritizing to seek attention from the public for the upcoming election and thereby the ministers are spending funds in the name of celebrations for conducting pre-election campaigns. During such gatherings, though the parliament members are keen in winning the upcoming elections, not only do they publicize about their political parties but also project as if they care for the citizens and promise many commitments during the announcements. For example, Minister Balchand, though he had all the capabilities and money to spend on teaching systems of his district, he spent the cash on Diwali celebrations by deprioritizing the plan of constructing schools in the village of “Aloor”. If he had not considered the campaigns, he would have planned for spending on village development ideas. Thus government employees tend to initiate more celebrations than development roadmaps.

Moreover, the financial department members do not engage in planning activities. The core members of the ruling party, not only lack financial forecasting and management skills but also lack proactive skills that during disastrous periods things get more chaotic. The team adds a higher value of quotation for festival parties and a lower value for essential services. For example, in the year 2023, the amount marked for the New year assembly plan was 80K GBP. And for basic food provision to children in underdeveloped area was 3K GBP. If the integral members of the finance unit had proper skills and knowledge, they would have planned well in advance.

To conclude, spending more dollars on festivals, which is due to improper fund allocation by the chief members and lack of skills among government employees, leads to reduced scope for national improvement road maps.