Fiddling with the economy

That the bureaucrat lack imagination has been a given with us in the country. If the bureaucracy is weak in the head that is mentally capable of performing for this country; is it the politician, the men in uniform or a mixture of many forms of government. But above all, what does this mean so far as governance is concerned. Recently we had a three-tier government, albeit for a short time, two houses of senate one in the original infrastructure and the other under a 'tamboo'. The entire time one kept on anchors saying that public issues and problems were going astray. The simple query is what degree of public interest and governance is done by these elected houses? Do they bring in any kind of thought provoking policy issues for the general public? The news is full of deaths having taken place on the roads of Pakistan? Have they rethought the licensing system for the drivers of vehicles? The results of these accidents cause a considerable amount of pain to the families that lose their loved ones. Lakki Marwat aside all the road systems are disastrous for driving. Just because the PM goes to the Murree hills there is extended traffic police service now on this road. Shops that were encroaching on the roads have been dismantled. Will this not lead to demolition of the lives of the poor? I had for a long time said that this road leading to Murree is a death trap for any decent human.
The imagination(s) of the politicians is important for many reasons. A policy has to be reconsidered for the poor if only to deal with the growing requirements of the poor. Shops that have minimal cost involved have a pricing system that helps the poor. Not so when one goes to one of many sector or Markaz markets of Islamabad. In demolishing these small penny (paisa shops in Pakistan) shops, as these are called in UK, is asking for the rich to be further supported at the expense of the poor? The big shops are now in a fleecing mood so far as pricing is concerned. I looked at a plastic ball selling for 1200 rupees. I ask you. The same was selling for 40 rupees at these paisa (penny) shops. Why have the cheap toys taken away from the lesser children? The LDA, KDA, CDA and MDA all these development agencies are nothing but a warehouse for restrictive policies. What function do these number two products do for the poor? They act as catharsis and reduce tension in the personality and thereby help in social tension reduction. Thailand is full of these shops and they make every brand name that sell in the market place. So the reductionist policies are restrictive and do not add to growth.
Imagination is required if the future has to hold for Pakistan. The barren lands of Balochistan can be made green and it only requires a man willing to work in difficult situations. Why was the Chaghi project shelved despite resources provided by the Islamic Development Bank? This was immediately after the successful test of atom bomb explosion. Subsequent governments were also making the same mistake. Was it not desirable that the land that was barren (4.5 million acres of it) was brought under the plough? When I remerged from one of my many stints as OSD, I again saw the project and by that time it had been made into rat. So my comments that did not go well with the lanners of the time including some ministers who had damaged the project was 'A horse had been made into a rat'. Only in Punjabi it is more colourful.
Balochistan can again be made into a food sovereignty province for Pakistan (Punjabis won't like this for they think they have a monopoly on all aspects of agriculture). The fact is that so far as agriculture is concerned, Punjab is a lame duck despite all those WB projects that came their way. I must assume some responsibility for what happened in the Punjab and how that province lost its way. Those were early days but these matters are now different. Exponential experience gained through the years has enabled one to reconsider agriculture and it is to the credit that despite all the difficulties food inflation was contained.
Why are Pakistan's economic team fiddlers? Well, consider how it is organised. There is no connection between the finance and the planners but worst still there is no connection between the policymakers and the extension workers what to speak of the farmers. The traditional farm is 100% on the ground and there is no technological breakthrough that the farmer has undertaken. Is it because of trust factor? Is it because the way our educational system is developed? What is the way out? We have gone the PhD route only to find them using the word as a decoration much like the former CSP. All these three letter words are dangerous for they give unnecessary power to an individual. The civil service was warned as far back as 1985 but they did not understand. They refused to see the writing on the wall. Shaheed ZAB had given an indication when he brought in reforms on 17th August 1973. The CSP merely thought it was an aberration and would solve over time. The Musharraf era was an era of deforms across various organisations and bullies were in position. Agencies' representatives used to attend the cabinet meetings. The decision-making software had gone to hell as no civilian would take cudgels with the chair. This is happening even today.
All the hard talk about managing the economy is irrelevant. It is irrelevant because of the way things have gone wrong. With expenditure not being reduced, the fingers are pointing the one's that have left office. Instead of getting on with it we have politicians making statements of a threatening nature and some even willing to take drastic action against their own biological make-up. Catch the thieves is one of the slogans, catch the terrorists and 'bhatta khors', catch the thieves of gas - catch is the slogan. Where is there any positive aspect of governance? The political party has been done in. If so what stops them from calling another elections.
Where is the conscience and where is the element 'to be' attributed to Paulo Farreire, a priest by profession and a mad one man army that did the army in while living in North East Brazil. Conscientization was how he implemented policies for the poor. Later on, while in exile to Chile he developed a mass literacy programme based on 'to be'. There was no ABC and literacy as we are doing but simply a hands-on effort at skills so that s/he could be. The Americans being a very cunning race realised that he could be painful to them if he stayed in Chile took him to Harvard from where in disgust he left to work for the Christian Church Organisation in Switzerland and from there he took his work to Ghana. If one were to read his book called the 'Pedagogy of the poor' one would see how simple and easy the effort can be if we are sincere.
No we cannot do anything for the poor but we will make Rajanpur equivalent to Lahore? What pray is the equivalence formula? Well, try and remove the excess water from Misri Shah and 'Do Moria Pul' first. The drainage system has gone haywire and if there are any doubts then go and see the overflowing gutters. Lahore is not Ferozepur road and neither are the posh areas which consist of elites. The lament and the wailing aside why have the elites and the profitable sectors taxed in accordance with the services provided. What have you provided to the farmers that you are taxing them or are willing to do so? What are the services provided in terms of energy, in security and so on? If you have by all means tax them.
Think a while and ask yourself whether the peripheral areas do not have a case against us just as the East Pakistanis had against us? Pakistanis are not welcome in Balochistan and now Sindh where a segment has started taking same kind of actions as the Balochistan Revolutionary army. Fiddlers in the economic team should start performing. But they have not seen the real Pakistan so what could they do? And the cognitive ability is missing or was always absent. Morons or oxymorons - your choice.