Daily Times

Since this government took over, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been advising the nation to exercise austerity. He even sought proposals to cut government spending. After the recent budget, it seems he hasn’t succeeded in his mission. Muhammad Aurangzeb, the new finance minister brought in from outside the typical hierarchy, hasn’t been able to achieve anything as far as public opinion about the budget is concerned. The nation remains disappointed about the budget for failing to address its basic problems of daily life.

The Finance Minister is not to blame entirely for the document he produced when the prime minister himself admitted that the budget was prepared in line with IMF advice. It doesn’t leave much to the discretion of either the prime minister or the newly inducted finance minister. Believably, the IMF dictates would have been stringent and straightforward – take it or leave it. But how and why did we face such a situation by submitting to the IMF dictates without raising eyebrows?

Let’s return to the austerity measures the PM had promised. When the country faces a severe debt trap and is compelled to borrow to pay back the existing debt, it’s the worst financial state other than bankruptcy. Some drastic measures to cut expenses at state level are in order. Privatisation of loss-makers in the public sector must be the first to part with. PIA, along with its hotel in New York and Pakistan Steel Mills must be put on the chopping block immediately. The finance minister claimed that the country’s three airports in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi were to be privatised and that bids for the PIA would reach by the end of June this year. June ended, July began. Where are the bids? The airports remain as chaotic for the travellers as they always were – overstaffed but lacking in performance.

Privatisation of loss-makers in the public sector must be the first to part with.

Imagine, the PSM that has become a sacred cow stopped manufacturing in 1915 but its employees were paid their salaries regularly. Its higher-ups enjoyed all the perks and privileges that went with their ranks. Most of the redundant employees are appointees of the People’s Party. That’s the main reason why Bilawal Bhutto opposes the privatisation of the mills. Both the organisations are causing losses worth billions of rupees to the exchequer. Wonder if there’s an airline worse than the PIA in terms of service, punctuality and overstaffing.

Beside the two public organisations mentioned above, there is a long list of candidates for privatisation in the public sector including the loss-making DISCOs and the state insurance corporation. The decision to privatise them was taken long ago but typical dilly-dallying and wastage of time and public money have so far been the outcome of the decision. Privatisation of the PIA and the PSM is a sure test of any government in power. Whether the vested interests succeed in keeping the loss-makers in the public sector or the national interests take precedence by dumping them into the private hands, is a catch-22 situation.

Public question is simple. Why maintain the loss-making white elephants in the public sector and cut public pockets by different other ways when the losses of billions these organisations inflict year after year could be avoided? The people belonging to lower and middle classes can neither pay their electric bills nor afford to have two ends food. The government on the other hand maintains huge loss-makers on the whims of its politically influential classes, including the bureaucracy.

The state bureaucracy itself deserves to be reduced to nearly half its present state. A leading industrialist once said that two-third of the bureaucracy had no work to do. If you look at their lifestyle, it reminds of the British raj. Official residences of the civil service and police officials in the districts sprawl over acres of land.

The Punjab government in 2023 sanctioned purchase of double cabins and new limousines for the officers’ use. The Punjab government at the time released a huge sum of Rs2.34 billion to purchase luxury vehicles for the civil officers, including assistant commissioners, additional commissioners and the commissioners. Even the Tehsildars were supposed to drive new official vehicles to show the writ of the state, according to the Punjab government policy. Does it not speak enough for austerity?

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