To opt between brain and brawn has always been a litmus test to establish the nature of a government's priorities in policymaking.

To promote sports among the youth, particularly students, the Punjab Government marked Independence Day by arranging various sports activities in all its districts. Commendable, indeed. In a district, a one-off cycle race was the talk of the town. The cyclists were given T-shirts and caps bearing the pictures of the ruling party stalwarts.

Before that, the contests for Urdu and English speech, milli naghma singing and the quiz programme related to the Pakistan Movement for Independence were also held among schools – first at the tehsil level and then at the district level. A prize distribution ceremony was held at the district level on the penultimate day.

The intriguing part of the whole exercise is that whereas the winners of the cycle race walked away with cash, those in the speech, milli naghma and quiz contests were given only consolation prizes. This........

© The Express Tribune