Daily Times

Let’s have no illusions that our society stands clearly divided between two classes: the fabulously rich and the impoverished. It reminds me of the French Revolution years (1789-1799) when the same two segments of the society were defined as the “privileged and unprivileged classes.” Coincidentally, the Prime Minister recently chose the same term by “calling on the privileged classes to make sacrifices and adopt simplicity.”It’s easier said than done.

Sharp increases of 40 per cent in petrol, 47 per cent in per unit of electricity and 40 per cent in Gas charges have unnerved especially those who lived hand to mouth. Does the government raise the prices of utilities merely on its whims or there are unavoidable circumstances for escalating prices of the products? Certainly, serious compulsions to raise the prices of the utilities confront the government. It has to meet the IMF conditions for granting loans. And why are we so desperate to obtain loans? Please don’t undermine the opinion of this writer – the ruling classes of the country used to living beyond the national means are responsible for it.

With deference to Huzaima Bukhari for quoting from her column in this newspaper, Budgets Beyond Balance, in which she highlighted two main classes of the society that cannot exist without loans. Her single sentence sums up: “How can a country with poor revenue collection, heavy debts, explosive population, parasitical civil/military bureaucracies and massive public sector enterprises, be expected to provide the much-needed respite to its miserable poor lot?” Do the poor of society need loans to survive? Nope. The upper classes of the society are addicted to high living do.

When the Prime Minister talks about austerity, it must be visible from the top downwards.

Because of power load-shedding, small businesses and factories are suffering the most. But the main problem, which is alarming, lies elsewhere. It’s the human load in government bureaucracies that need to be shed. Every government department is overstaffed. Is that a way to provide jobs? No sir. The jobs must be productive and meaningful. There’s no sense in maintaining layers upon layers of bureaucrats and providing them with residences and transport, which are the visible privileges while the innumerable invisible perks they manage on their own.

A renowned investigative journalist reported last year how “a retired SC judge holding a key post at the Centre gets Rs1,313,000 as gross pay, which includes Rs1,239,000 basic pay, Rs6,000 telephone allowance and Rs68,000 as house rent. In addition, he draws Rs 928, 847 as a pension, which includes Rs 815,133 as his monthly pension, Rs 56,465 as special addition in the pension, and Rs 45,799 medical allowance for pensioners.” Thus, the gentleman of justice ends up pocketing more than Rs 2 million after retirement. But then, “My Lords” have to dispense justice from the depth of their conscience, remaining mindful of the day of reckoning when they would have to answer for all the decisions they made in this fleeting world. Surely, Justice retd Saqib Nisar will glide through smoothly.

However, it’s a moral highhandedness to either seek an extension at the completion of long years in service or secure re-employment in semi-government departments on salaries even higher than they received during the service. It denies the right to jobs and upward progress to the aspiring ones down the line. It seems as if the greed for power and pelf of many bureaucrats is so overwhelming that they would want to meet their Maker while they occupied the chairs of authority if they had a choice.

Under the present economic crisis, people would fully support a political leader who decided to cut government losses by selling off the loss-making dinosaurs like the Pak Steel Mills and other public sectors SMEs. It would be a radical step and amount to stepping on many powerful toes but that’s where the national interest in the long run lies. Even the once proud national flag carrier now a pain in the neck of the taxpayers, PIA, deserves to be flogged off.

Regarding power load management, the government’s decision to shut markets at 8.30 pm is the need of time. The culture of late-night shopping has to change. If rich countries like Qatar, where the government provides free electricity, gas and water to its citizens, have established a routine of opening shopping centres at around 10 am and closing at 9 pm, why can’t we do it? The Expo commercial centre in Lahore remains open till midnight. Other shopping centres and malls in the city follow the same routine.

When the Prime Minister talks about austerity, it must be visible from the top downwards. The ostentatious lifestyle of ministers and bureaucrats at public expense, VIP movements and official protocols must cease under agonising economic conditions.

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