Daily Times

When the elections were announced for Feb 8 and some lodged petitions to postpone them for various reasons, a large majority in the country is worried more about its living conditions, which are worsening with time. It’s disheartening for any sensitive and thinking citizen to see our country sinking economically and mouths to feed rising phenomenally.

The first step the government that comes into power takes is to increase the prices of utilities to meet the expenses of its huge bureaucracy, not to mention a large number of ministers, ministers for state and advisers. They all live in style and not as citizens of a poor state. Will the new government reduce the size of the unnecessary large bureaucracy, its official lifestyle and protocols? Or will the lower strata of society remain in a state of unhappiness and gloom?

There’s one way of life to live for the common citizens and another for the select class. A few days ago, I was driving on the motorway M2 when I thrice saw vehicles led by a BMW and followed by two black SUVs. These vehicles didn’t care for the defined speed on the motorway. The men in the bulletproof BMWs were VVIPs least concerned about how the tax money was spent to maintain their lifestyle.

It’s disheartening for any sensitive and thinking citizen to see our country sinking economically and mouths to feed rising phenomenally.

On observing the lavish lifestyle of men in BMWs with green registration plates, I suddenly recalled the gas bill of my widowed sister amounting to Rs1,65,000 for one month recently while she had been out of the country to meet family members. Her house remained empty for a few months. On approaching the senior men of the SNGPL dept., we were informed nothing could be done about the bill since it had appeared on the meter, which was final. The bill could be paid in instalments was the consolation offered. Would a VIP ever receive such a bill?

Another episode worth quoting is when I recently went to drop my daughter at the Lahore airport to board a flight at 11.45 pm. The traffic on the road adjacent to the golf course near the airport was moving at the proverbial snail speed with cars inching forward abreast each other. It took about 45 minutes to reach the point where a quarter of the wide road had been dug to lay some kind of pipework and a long wooden barrier was placed there, which allowed only one vehicle to pass at a time.

Luckily, we had left home much earlier before the flight time anticipating some kind of road checks and smog at night. Then on the final checkpoints before entering the airport building were long lines of cars to check weapons. The guard posted on the checkpoint would peep inside the vehicle and ask, “Any weapons?” When the passengers said No, he snapped ‘Go on’. While passengers in three lanes of cars waited to hear this, a fourth lane with a board ‘VIP Lane’ faced no such hindrance. That’s life for the common taxpayer and the superior few.

Is there any hope for the administrative and economic conditions in the country to change in the new year with a new government in power? The existing economic conditions must change drastically if we consider what the World Bank Country Director Najy Benhassine recently observed. “There is a broad consensus that action is needed to change policies that have plagued development, benefitted only a few, and led to very volatile and low growth. The question is whether those with power and influence will take the opportunity arising from the current crisis to do what is needed. It is time for Pakistan to come together in the interests of a brighter, more prosperous, and more sustainable future”, he stated in a Policy Vision article, published in the latest UNDP publication.

Are men with special genius needed to boost the economy? No. All it needs is to religiously follow those countries that have economically progressed in a short time. That may require dedication and determination to achieve certain targets. It’s not that our governments are unaware of their shortcomings but the political expediency comes in the way of taking positive and far-reaching decisions in public interest.

For instance, when SMEs have been making losses for years, Pakistan Steel Mills, the white elephant, has been out of production since 2015, why maintain them at state expense, in other words, waste public tax money? Mr Shahid Kardar, former State Bank Governor, was spot on to point out PIA as the main loss maker. He wrote in an article how the airline’s accumulated loss of Rs713 billion (growing more than Rs150bn per annum), lost $7.1bn since 2012. Could the poor and middle classes of society expect the new government after the elections to cut losses, reduce the size of the bureaucracy, its perks and privileges, and put the economy on the right track by selling the loss-making organisations in the public sector? Lastly, what’s the point of the government announcing relief in fuel prices and an increase in power prices on the same day? A newspaper put up both news items side by side – part of humour perhaps.

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