The Islamabad Club was established in 1967 as a non-profit organisation to provide recreational facilities to government servants and diplomats. The club is still run through an archaic ordinance issued in 1978 even though a lot has changed for the worse since then.
The president of Pakistan, who is patron, nominates an administrator who is all powerful. The administrator appoints a management committee to assist him in running the affairs of the club.
Over the years, the club has lost sight of its original purpose. Fixed monthly charges have been enhanced several times and catering is more expensive than other comparable clubs in Pakistan. It has now become a commercial entity.
Recently, additional monthly charges have been imposed for the use of swimming pools and badminton courts. This is over and above the monthly contribution paid by all the members. This has made the club prohibitively expensive for government servants and pensioners.
A closer look at the financial matters reveals that the club had started incurring losses recently because of a newly-established cricket academy and polo ground. The majority of the club membership does not use these facilities, but has been arbitrarily made to subsidise those expensive facilities that are used by some elitist members.
Such arbitrary decision-making can only be checked by making the club management more representative. Other clubs, including Lahore Gymkhana, elect their managers periodically. That makes them more consultative, transparent and accountable.
Resultantly, those outfits are far better run. Islamabad Club members, too, should be empowered to elect their represen-tatives in order to maintain the original spirit of this entity, which includes keeping charges under check in order to provide recreational facilities to government servants in our fun-starved capital.
JAVED HAFIZ
ISLAMABAD
