IN a wide-ranging interview on Sunday, caretaker Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar explained policies of his Government during interim period, need for rationalizing size and expenditure of the federal and provincial governments, vital activities being undertaken by the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), prospects of investment from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), menace of smuggling and border control, continuation of the incumbent President till replacement by his successor and expressed firm resolve to hold all those accountable involved in May 09 violence. The clarity of thoughts on these issues on the part of the Prime Minister augurs well for the country and would surely serve as a morale-booster for people who are, otherwise, fed up with unending confusion and uncertainty surrounding the national scene.
The creation of the Task Force, headed by Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar, to look at the options to better manage pension funds, besides making efforts to rationalize public expenditure and increase revenue, is a step in the right direction in the given situation. In the backdrop of bloated electricity bills and unbearable inflation, there is popular demand to do away with undue perks and privileges of the elite class and bring down public expenditure. There was absolutely no justification for continuation of discriminatory benefits like free electricity, gas, petrol, vehicles, telephone, entertainment and lavish expenditure during local and foreign visits when the majority of the people find it difficult to manage their kitchens in their limited incomes. Similarly, despite repeated claims and so-called reforms, there is a duplicity of ministries, divisions and departments in federal and provincial setups, which is nothing but wastage of national resources. There is, therefore, dire need to rationalize the size of the Government, putting a ceiling on the number of cabinet members, ministries/divisions at federal and provincial levels and identification of measures and policies that could lead to transparency and good governance. However, it is a big question mark whether or not the future governments would implement or continue with the policies being devised by the interim setup. Another issue is bottlenecks created by the powerful bureaucracy and vested interests in the way of implementation of similar proposals and plans devised in the past after thorough deliberations. Soon after coming into power, the PTI Government assigned Dr Ishrat Hussain, former Governor of State Bank of Pakistan, the task of proposing governmental reforms and in fact he submitted a comprehensive set of proposals to cut the bloated public sector, rolling back privileges and targeted subsidies. However, they mostly remained unimplemented during the entire tenure of the PTI-led Government. Again, the coalition Government, led by Shehbaz Sharif, also announced a comprehensive austerity plan aimed at saving hundreds of billions of expenditure but this too was only symbolically implemented as privileged ones were not ready to part with undue favours. Based on bitter experience of the past, it is hoped the caretaker Government would devise and instantly implement proposals without any fear or favour. As for pensions, the previous Government had announced some reforms but the critical issue of managing pension funds was left out, which is now to be taken up by the new Task Force. No one would differ with the Prime Minister when he emphasizes the need for increasing tax collection but this should be done by making those sectors pay that always seek relief from the Government but are not willing to contribute their due share to the national kitty. The SIFC, fully backed by the Pakistan Army, is undoubtedly doing its best to help revive the economy, mainly through substantial foreign investment. The Prime Minister has talked about projection of its activities but it may be pointed out that work speaks for itself, therefore, focus should be on concrete results visible to the masses. One hopes both SIFC and relevant ministries and departments would prepare ground work in collaboration with their Saudi counterparts to make the proposed visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman result-oriented. The clarification of the PM that incumbent President Dr Arif Alvi would continue till replacement by his successor would hopefully put all speculations on this account to rest.
