Pakistan’s welfare state conundrum on March 14, 2020Imran Khan is not an exception; whoever comes to power, after every few years, lays out his dream or at least makes it a campaign slogan to make Pakistan a welfare state,but soon tumbles when reality strikes. A welfare state is narrowly defined as a state that makes spending arrangement to provide cash benefits to […]
Why accountability only will not eliminate corruption in government machinery on December 19, 2018There is no question that corruption slowly and steadily eats away the flesh of the state like some diseases damage organs in the long process only to get attention when the organ stops functioning. Same is the case in Pakistan where most of the state institutions and enterprises are dying a slow death due to […]
Reviving ailing public sector enterprises on August 3, 2018Hardly any day passes without news of public sector enterprises making huge losses. Some days ago news was circulating that the Pakistan railway has suffered a forty billion rupee loss in the fiscal year ending June, 2018. Similarly, PIA was in the news for making a historic loss prompting the Supreme Court to order an […]
What can decrepit politicians give to their constituents? Nothing at all on June 27, 2018Election fever is at an all time high in Pakistan. Some parties, like Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaf (PTI), are already in campaign mode, and others, including incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Noon (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) are just getting started. The campaigns cannot go into full swing until major parties distribute their National and Provincial Assembly tickets. […]
Democracy and corruption on May 30, 2018Most of us have heard the famous saying of Abraham Lincoln that the democracy is ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’,but in many democracies around the world the governments may fulfil the criteria of being ‘of the people’ and ‘by the people’ but they are certainly not ‘for the people’. We […]
What can Pakistan learn from Singapore? on May 7, 2018It’s my third year in Singapore and every day I witness and appreciate the achievements of this small city-state and ponder what could policymakers in Pakistan learn from the success of this country. From the time you land at Changi Airport which is successively declared one of the best airports in the world, you start […]