THE President has promulgated ordinances to restructure the management system of four government institutions in line with the commitment made to the IMF. The National Highway Authority (Amendment) Ordinance 2023, Pakistan Postal Services Management Board (Amendment) Ordinance 2023, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance 2023, and Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (Amendment) Ordinance 2023 were promulgated on Thursday after respective secretaries “briefed the President on the urgency” of the matter. After the amendments, the posts of chairperson and chief executives in NHA, Pakistan Post, PNSC and PBC would be separated “to ensure good governance in line with international best practices”. Independent members would be inducted into their boards.
The SOEs are in sharp focus in the backdrop of the financial conditions of the country as well as realization on the part of the decision-makers to improve their working and output in line with the policy of ensuring fiscal discipline and saving expenditure. Unlike the impression which has been created by some vested interests, that the SOEs are mere burden on the national exchequer, these entities numbering over two hundred have been rendering valuable services in different spheres of life. These have been instrumental in furthering national interests, safeguarding interests of the general public and preventing exploitation of the people by different mafias that behave like cartels. There is no doubt that with the passage of time, the quality of service of many of these institutions deteriorated and those, which had the potential to become profitable, are incurring losses because of mismanagement, political interference in their working, induction of unnecessary manpower, favouritism in appointment of their heads, corruption and the overall lethargic attitude that has become hallmark of the entire system. It is intriguing that even those institutions, which enjoy monopoly in their respective fields like Pakistan Steel, PIA, Discos, Utility Stores Corporation and Pakistan Railways should incur losses. There were, of course, periods when many of these entities became profitable due to visionary and hardworking leadership. However, these improvements in their working could not be sustained because of continued political instability and frequent change of policies and vision. The four entities chosen for the first round of restructuring of the SOEs have been playing important role in national development and therefore, the decision to reform their working and make them viable is appreciable in every respect as the amendments in the relevant laws are expected to lead to better governance, service delivery and accountability to the public. The amendments in the laws of the above entities as signed by the President have been made to bring them in conformity with the State Owned Enterprises (Governance and Operations) Act 2023, promulgated in January 2023. The SOEs law has been enacted in order to improve the governance and operations of SOEs for enhancing the quality of service delivery and to bring about fiscal discipline. The government is now in the process of extending the provisions of the SOEs law to such entities that are governed by special statutes with a view to making their operations efficient and transparent. However, much depends on the ability of the authorities concerned to implement the provisions of the law in letter and spirit. This is because we witnessed in the past that changes in the composition and scope of boards of governors of different entities could not lead to desired results as these appointments were manipulated by vested interests and the board merely became a burden on those institutions. Similarly, no worthwhile attempt was made in the past to appoint professional and regular heads of these institutions. A case in point is Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) where the post of Director-General remained a victim of adhocism for many years. Under the SOEs Act, a Central Monitoring Unit (CMU) has been established in the Ministry of Finance for performance monitoring of the SOEs; preparation of annual business plans and preparation and public disclosure reports to better inform the public. The move is expected to pay dividends as monitoring of their performance by the CMU would introduce the element of genuine accountability, forcing these entities to make sincere efforts aimed at their professional excellence and financial discipline.
