Stagnant minds

What does it take to change a mind of an individual and of a nation collectively? We see deep ingrained attitudes in all nations but there is a difference when these attitudes are positive or otherwise. As a civil servant the exponential experience that I have gone through and I dare say the same experience is also visible in other colleagues. The civil service for all its ills provided an experience level that is not visible to any other service. The others that criticised the service had their points of view but the manner in which the authority of the service was nibbled away had its regressive aspects. While carrying out a survey of the large industry on Sheikhupura road I was accosted by serious criticism from the industrialists who managed to draw a distinction on the arrogance of the lot. When it was enquired as to whether they were able to handle their problems when they arose. They agreed. But as a word of caution I had also mentioned that the time will come when you will remember the service for its delivery. That world has come sooner than I think. Talk of Karachi and the problems of governance - of bhatta khori and of murder and of a host of other problems. Where would the industrialists go and have problems redressed? Go to any urban areas and the problems exist causing immense loss and fear to the industrialist. The loss that the industrialist experiences is passed on to the consumer but then the consumer can accept that much of a cost and then he finds that the price is enormous he starts looking for substitutes.
So what would a bureaucrat do to win over the support of the power structure on the one hand and the economic source on the other. It is a classical case of being between two powerful forces - the politicians and the unknown but equally powerful market forces. When the West talks of market forces it believes and correctly so that there will be minimal government intervention while the facts are completely different. The incompetent political forces (a wide generalization) and the equally incompetent market forces come into clash. Reason does not play a part in this. The greed and irrationality of the entire situation is overwhelming. Minds are hard to change and the very many experiments that I carried out bear this fact. So how does one get to a mind that is free from all encumbrances? It is difficult let me almost from the very beginning. Given our social structures and the hatred that we have generated in our system there seems to be no way to get these higher echelons jokers into office and thereafter to take their work seriously. This lack of abilities to foresee the future and to implement new possibilities leaves us to the mercy of the international organisations and what they tell us. Since we are always going to be short on revenue resources because of our inability to tax the powerful and the politically powerful therefore there is no chance of our being away from the clutches of the IMF/WB and other international authorities. We just do not seem to work our way out of morass and the pits of Pakistan where we seem to have pitched ourselves.
My experience of former East Pakistan has been a very sad one, sad because we cut off one of our most potent arm. Since I was there for over a three-year period I can tell you that that probably was the best administrated period of my life. A neutral environment and a very non-interfering provincial government made one exercise one's mind. Since sifarish was not possible it was but obvious that one tried to make the decisions in keeping with the rules and regulations. The obvious check on administrative misbehaviour was the public opinion. This non-regulatory power was such that it cut across all the powerful mafia that could operate in that area. In other words the local administration was kept in check by the localized opinion of the area. This was potent and did not end with mere protest but rather there were outcomes where human decency and dignity was maintained.
Having said what I did I wanted to make the point that there are other forms of administration than the top boss making it out to every nook and corner and behaving like the senior most Assistant Commissioner of the area. The time or policy time is most important; as a result the local administration would not perform but look over their shoulders to seek the approval of the chief executive. Nothing lasts forever and when the turn of others comes a flood of hate come up as a result of the hate policies that were followed by the outgoing political party. This hate circle is a self reinforcing one and the continuous use makes for these policies and the power of the government is used in a manner that is not in conformity with the modern norms of management.
So how does one go about dealing with the matter so as to improve it? One can only go about it in a manner that enables us as a nation to move forward. It is all wrapped up in paradoxes and when one considers these paradoxes one comes to the conclusion that this is a very long-term and arduous task. Is it childhood education and if so where will you have these teachers that can handle the education of a young child? If after ten years we find that the social development is not of our kind then what will one do as a nation? Socially desirable ends may have to be seen in the context of every sector. In the case of industry do they provide meaningful jobs and are they conversant with capital intensity in the allocation process. Is there misallocation of resources by the private sector and or the public sector? There are definite rules of the game that have to be followed or we will get into one mess after the other. This must be the only country in the world where the mafia demands money for the protection of the industry and then also provides a discount on such demand. In other words the market for bhatta khors has developed and there has to be long-term effort to rid society of these parasites. Unfortunately these are not the only bhatta khors for they abound in governments also. Parasitic behaviour can be both in the private sector as well as in the public sector. It is unnerving to see justification and rationalization of inabilities on the silver screen. How does one determine what the need of the poor are? Any well set criteria or well indicated criteria that have been laid down by previous and other governments.
If one considers the impact of these policies on the investment then the investment or the lack of investment is quite visible and this is the sector where employment is generated we are in a different catch situation. There has been none or minimal investment and the possibilities of new investment are virtually dried up for the future. Foreign Direct Investment of whatever kind is not coming our way. We had a significant problem to start with and ask any industrialist and they will tell you that there is not enough trained manpower in the country? So how come that we will have new investments - even if we consider that there is no energy shortage. Pakistan's future lies in small concentric circles that work because of localized policies. Those that work in Punjab will not work in other parts of the country. But what will work is important and to that end we have very few policymakers that may have the vision to construct such policies. This ability to innovate does not come from rote learning. To take an analogy with what is going on - stagnant water stinks and that is where dengue comes from. Stagnant thought also stinks but the after-effects are much worse for policy dengue just reinforces because of our stagnant minds. Lament does not work in the matters of governance!!!