PRIME Minister Imran Khan’s decision to continue subsidies to provide relief to the weaker segments of the society and take stern action against electricity thieves is reflective of his realistic approach to the fundamental issues confronting the masses and this is what an elected leader is expected to do. Chairing a meeting to review the impact of subsidies on the life of the people, he also gave directions to ensure that the amount being spent for the purpose leads to overall improvement in the conditions of the beneficiaries. Presiding over another meeting, he reiterated commitment of his Government to ensure trickledown effect of the improvement in economic indicators and provide relief to the poor and salaried class.
No saner element would oppose the structural reforms being implemented by the PTI Government as these are aimed at curing ills of the economy and move towards the cherished objective of enabling the country to stand on its own feet. As has repeatedly been pointed out by the Prime Minister himself, the country cannot enjoy genuine sovereignty and stability unless reliance on foreign loans is minimized if not totally stopped. It is, therefore, understandable that the Government had to take bitter measures for the sake of long-term interests of the country. However, we have been emphasizing in these columns that reforms and relief should go side by side in view of the fact that not all sections of the society can absorb the shock. Though there is a viewpoint that the culture of subsidies should be discarded and things should be left to the market principles but nowhere in the world there is fuller implementation of the concept of life without subsidies. Even in the developed world, agriculture and industry are given liberal incentives and subsidies to ensure competitiveness of their products in the global market and with this kind of support their products reach all corners of the world. As repeated increase in the gas and electricity tariff as well as prices of POL products not just badly impacts the common man but also has serious implications for production and exports, there is logic to not just continue but increase subsidies on power and gas. Similarly, the government should resist the temptation of earning money through increase in taxes on POL products and pass on the benefits of the falling prices of oil in the international market as this would also help stimulate the economic activity. That the economy is on the path of improvement is also acknowledged by multilateral and bilateral donors and the recent successful conclusion of staff level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is also reflective of the confidence of the donors on the economic policies of the Government.
This would also have salutary impact on relations of the country with other donors like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. However, more needs to be done to address the major challenge of price-hike, which is source of concern for the people. There are already indications of stabilization in the prices of some essential items but the measures taken by the Government should lead to reduction in their prices. The Government has taken policy level initiatives to tackle the situation but it needs to be proactive on the administrative front as well to ensure that the benefits are passed on the people and are not pocketed by the vested interests. It is also encouraging that the Government has pledged to provide relief to the salaried class as fixed income groups are hit hard by any surge in inflation. As for the resolve to go after big thieves of electricity, this is a step in the right direction and would surely help reduce the losses of the distribution companies significantly. We would suggest that apart from individual consumers against whom action is somewhat easy, the Government should also take firm action against private and public sector entities known for consuming electricity but paying no or negligible bills. There are businesses, factories and hotels running on illegal power and gas connections besides residents of some posh areas going scot-free even after stealing hundreds/thousands of units every month. Power and gas companies have no implementation machinery to take serious action against thieves, therefore, they should have full cooperation of the provincial government if the campaign is to be taken to its logical conclusion.
