AS the nation braces for another wave of fuel price hikes triggered by geopolitical turmoil, a harsh reality is settling in: Pakistan is consuming petrol and diesel at a rate it simply cannot afford.
While the government has resorted to what appear to be decisive measures, reducing working days in the week, closing schools and lowering speed limits on motorways. A closer look reveals that these actions may be more symbolic than strategic. The question we must ask is whether these decisions were based on rigorous statistical data and analysis, or whether they were whimsical, knee-jerk responses, copying some others countries model, designed to create an illusion of action. Without granular data on how much fuel was actually saved by shutting a school for one day versus the economic and educational cost incurred, we cannot judge their effectiveness. What we can judge is the pattern: a government that consistently opts for blunt, visibility-driven measures that burdens the masses rather than targeting the real, egregious sources of waste.
The real waste does not lie in a family driving a 1300cc sedan to work or a shopkeeper using a motorcycle for delivery. The real waste sits in the convoys, the protocols, the official vehicles and the unaccounted free fuel flowing to the elite. If Pakistan is sincere about energy conservation, we must start at the very top. We need to stop all unnecessary protocols immediately. The sight of a single VIP moving with a cavalcade of large Land Cruisers, V8 and V6 vehicles, often with their engines idling for hours, is not a security necessity in most cases; it is an act of national irresponsibility. Each one of those vehicles consumes petrol or diesel at a rate two to three times higher than a standard car. The government must impose a strict check on the movement of these gas guzzlers, restricting their use only to verifiable, high-threat security profiles. Furthermore, the archaic practice of providing official free fuel to government officers, judges and parliamentarians must be discontinued immediately. There is no justification for a public servant to consume a subsidized or free commodity for which the common citizen pays through the nose. This is not a radical idea; it is a return to common sense.
We have done this before and we can do it again. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this very nation proved that it could adapt to severe restrictions when the situation demanded it. We restricted movement between cities, shut down in-person conferences and official meetings, closed mosques for congregational prayers and shifted to remote work and virtual governance. If we could shut down the entire country for a virus, why can we not impose targeted restrictions on fuel consumption for an economic survival crisis? The answer is not a lack of capability but a lack of political will. The elite are unwilling to sacrifice their comfort and so the burden is shifted downward through regressive taxes and vague austerity drives. The government needs to think clearly: this is not the time to put more burden on the struggling masses. Instead, we must find ways to give them relief and that relief will come only when we stop subsidizing the fuel habits of the powerful.
To move forward, Pakistan needs decision-making that is statistical and data-driven, not rooted in orthodox, colonial-era habits of show and protocol. Other countries have faced similar fuel crises and responded with surgical precision. For example, Indonesia did not merely close schools; it enforced mandatory work-from-home policies for half of its civil service in Jakarta, using real-time traffic and fuel sales data to adjust the policy weekly. Even in Europe, Spain and France temporarily cut fuel excise taxes while simultaneously imposing speed limits on highways, not as a vague suggestion, but as a statistically proven method to reduce consumption. Pakistan already reduced motorway speeds, but was that decision backed by a local study as the national character is a great driver of it, which can alter results.
What is required now is a national, government-level strategy that is transparent, measurable and fair. First, we must immediately restrict the use of large-engine vehicles for non-essential official movement and end all protocols, free travels and free fuel quotas. Second, we must revive the discipline of COVID-19: limit in-person government meetings, enforce remote work for non-essential staff in major cities and reduce the daily commuting load through staggered office hours based on traffic flow data. Third, we must establish a real-time fuel consumption dashboard so that every decision, from school closures to convoy sizes, is tied to a measurable outcome. Fourth, with the smart city system in place we must reduce the polic patrols to conserve energy. Fifth, we should plan car pools and strict office timing so that carpool is successful. The goal is not to make life harder for the common man. The goal is to make the powerful share the burden. If we are sincere with the country, we will stop hiding behind protocols in the name of security and start conserving fuel where it actually matters. Otherwise, the only statistic that will continue to rise is the price at the pump and the only thing shrinking will be the patience of the Pakistani people.
—The writer is an international law expert and an internationally accredited arbitrator and mediator.
