Daily Times

The fuel prices have recently shot up. The unit price of electricity is already high and beyond the paying capacity of the majority of the population. Never before has one dreaded so much to receive the monthly electric bill as it is now. High prices of both together are having a devastating impact on public life. Most unfortunately, the ruling classes by their lifestyle show complete ignorance about the word – austerity.

A large majority of the people don’t understand the complications behind raising the prices of utilities, which is essentially to meet the pre-conditions of the IMF to approve loans for the country. And why do we need the foreign loans so desperately is because the upper classes live beyond means to put it simply. While the rulers live like lords, the middle and lower middle classes cannot even afford to admit their children to private schools, according to a recent survey.

An administrator of a seminary in Karachi claimed that the enrolment of children in his seminary had doubled in the past two months. People from the middle class were enrolling their children in seminaries where the fees were low and living free. What kind of jobs the seminary-educated students will have in the competitive job market is another matter. Already the so-called Single National Curriculum introduced by Imran Niazi’s government created enough confusion.

Every time the plan to denationalise the PIA is conceived, new strategists appear on the scene who promise to turn things around.

The public questions: When people are facing punishing high prices of utility bills and fuel costs, why don’t the bureaucracies paid out of public money live in austerity? Has the protocol of bureaucrats and judges been cut down or reduced? Bureaucrats showing off their high living on public taxes only prove their lowbrow mindset. The IMF chief asked the prime minister to tax the rich and provide relief to the poor. She should have added ‘withdraw privileges of the bureaucrats and direct them to live simply to set an example for the public’.

Lucky for the nation the new Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa has set a personal example of austerity. He refused to ride in the BMW, the official vehicle for the CJP, and declined to receive any guard of honour. People see a lot of hope that the rest of the judges and other bureaucrats will follow his example of simplicity. Justice Isa appears to be a blessing for the nation. At the time of the oath-taking ceremony, accompanied by his wife, the couple looked so dignified and graceful. One wishes he had a longer tenure than a year-plus. Gen Asim Munir as the COAS and Justice Qazi Faez Isa as the CJP–both right-thinking gentlemen–are expected to introduce positive changes in the administrative system of the country. Both have a monumental task to manage in the greater national interest. It’s an opportunity for them to make history.

However, the interim government informed that it wanted to denationalise all government organisations that caused huge losses to the exchequer. But why haven’t the loss-makers, which I prefer to call dinosaurs, been sold out so far? Whenever we point fingers at which public sector organisations beat each other in loss-making, PIA and Pakistan Steel Mills stand out distinctly. Reportedly, the airline needs Rs13 billion monthly only to make repayments on its debt. And PSM has been out of production since 2015 but its employees were regularly paid their salaries.

There’s a difference between the two loss-makers. The airline keeps going despite its few aircrafts and unreliable service because it serves as a ‘rest and recreation’ centre for the senior men retired from other government organisations. It provides high salaries and privileges to its staff, especially the top men on the ladder and the flyers. The travellers complain of sloppy service at the airports and observe that instead of helping the passengers, airline staff keep saluting one another. On the other hand, six flights within the country were recently cancelled due to the unavailability of aircrafts. What shocking news!

Every time the plan to denationalise the PIA is conceived, new strategists appear on the scene who promise to turn things around. Ultimately, the result is the same as before. Do the huge losses the state-owned organisations make have an effect on the lives of the poor in society? Surely, it divides society mainly into two classes with extreme disparity between them. The upper class leads a life of ostentation and abundance of everything in life; the lower class finds it hard to pay its utility bills and arrange food for the family.

The newly appointed minister for privatisation, Fawad Hasan Fawad, held a meeting to discuss the restructuring of PIA before it’s privatised. The big question arises: Will PIA be privatised? Perhaps No, as it has survived many such attempts in the past and it has many saviours with vested interests. Losses of the loss-making behemoths will continue to be borne by the taxpayers and the shirtless of the country.

The writer is a Lahore-based columnist and can be reached at pinecity@gmail.com