Prime Minister Imran Khan's farm policy announced by Jehangir Tareen flanked by the relevant minister is to increase output through raising the yield per hectare, considerably lower than in India, while his signature poverty alleviation programme envisages cheap housing for the poor as a major component.
These two policies have a growth dimension with the Prime Minister stating that agriculture remains the backbone of the economy (directly as well as in providing raw material to local industry) and house construction for the poor would not only provide ownership to the poor but also fuel the wheels of 40 related industries thereby generating employment. Given the obvious positive political implications of these objectives previous administrations also heavily supported the farm sector (Bhutto's land reforms/support price/subsidies/cheap credit) and housing sector for the poor (5 marla, ten marla schemes and Aashiana).
During the 1960s and 1970s the focus was on land distribution while today the focus is on increasing yield. Ayub Khan passed a legislation in 1959 which disallowed anyone holding land in excess of 500 acres of irrigated and 1000 acres of un-irrigated land or a maximum of 36000 Produce Index Units whichever was greater and allowed redistribution amongst tenants. Z A Bhutto repealed the 1959 ordinance in 1972 and under Section 8 (1) stipulated that no individual holdings were to be in excess of 150 acres of irrigated land or 300 acres of un-irrigated land, or if the aggregate area of irrigated and un-irrigated land exceeded 150 acres of irrigated land (one acre of irrigated land being equivalent to two acres of un-irrigated land), or an area equivalent to 15,000 PIU of land, whichever was greater. Section 18 allowed excess land to be surrendered and utilized for the benefit of tenants cultivating it. The well known case of Qazalbash Waqf versus Chief Land Commissioner the Supreme Court struck down sections 8 and 18 declaring them against Islamic injunctions and unconstitutional. Bhutto's land reforms ceased to have effect on 23 March 1990 with land ownership restored to the same level as in 1947.
One outcome of this decision has been the widening disparity in the per acre yield between the rich absentee landlord holdings and smaller farmers for obvious reasons: differences in resources and education/access to information. Jehangir Tareen, a big landlord himself and the Prime Minister's go-to man, including the reported main architect of the government's farm policy, announced thirteen projects for the agriculture sector to cost an estimated 209 billion rupees - to be shared between the federal government and the provinces (excepting Sindh as it has shown no interest in engaging in the projects). The envisaged outcome of the projects is to: (i) enhance yield per hectare of wheat, rice, sugarcane and oil seeds. Unfortunately cotton, our major cash crop is missing from this list. Additionally, sugarcane is displacing cotton as the preferred crop with many alleging that this is not for economic reasons but due to the influence of the powerful sugar lobby (Tareen also owns a sugar mill). There is a need to revisit the relevance of sugar in our economy as in recent years it has been produced at a cost higher than in the international market and surplus sugar was exportable only after a subsidy that the country's economy could ill afford was extended. Tareen said this programme would be targeted towards the poor farmers however time will tell if this is indeed the case as in all previous targeted programmes the incentives were hijacked by the rich landlords; (ii) brick lining of 70,000 water courses which will save nine million acre feet of water and construction of small dams. Provinces have engaged in brick lining activity in the past though certainly not on the scale required. One would hope that the Ministry for Water Resources and Energy are on board with this component and adequate disbursements are made to ensure the implementation of this component; (iii) save the calf and fattening cattle programme with desi chickens provided to the poor at subsidized rates, a policy announced by the Prime Minister for which he was ridiculed; be that as it may it is critical to first launch a pilot project, evaluate its success or otherwise, and then decide its fate; and (iv) promoting shrimp and cage farming through access to loans to those engaged in trout farming in Naraan, Kaghan and Swat. This too was much talked of in previous administrations and again it is necessary to launch a pilot
project, evaluate its success before deciding whether to expand or end it.
Granted that redistribution of land is no longer a popular policy world-wide, however, on the face of it Tareen's farm policy, unless accompanied by a change in the make-up of existing small farms, perhaps through education and/or cooperatives, is unlikely to achieve its objectives.
With respect to providing plots/housing for the poor in urban centres, as aforementioned, Prime Minister Imran Khan is one in a line of the country's chief executives attempting to meet the ever growing demand for housing by those who cannot afford house ownership. Ironically while successive civilian and military establishments have never deviated from their policy to provide plots at subsidized rates to their retiring senior officials yet housing for the lower rank and file through developing a mechanism that would allow the lower cadres to construct homes never has been and still is not a priority.
Initially administrations began allocating free of cost plots of land - five marla and seven marlas to the poor. To date there has been no evaluation of that scheme notably whether the plots were sold to the target groups, whether they were resold or whether they are now occupied by middle income earners. Shahbaz Sharif's Aashiana housing scheme is currently under National Accountability Bureau investigation though one would hope that the constructed houses have been allocated to meet demand. Aashiana scheme envisaged 10 percent quota for widows and the destitute and a monthly payment of 4,500 rupees for a three-marla area house and 7, 500 rupees for a five-marla house.
On 17 April 2019 Prime Minister Imran Khan launched Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme, the word Naya (new) as synonymous with Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf as were programmes with the word peoples in the title for Pakistan People's Party and prime minister's programmes during Nawaz Sharif's premiership. The scheme was launched indoors with no stone or brick laid as a foundation stone like for other mega construction projects with Imran Khan stating that "my first priority was health, education and employment, but then I found out about a soon-to-be retiring government employee who was told that the only two ways his family could retain their government residence was if his son got inducted in the same department if he died while still a government employee. That man jumped off a building the next day; it was then that I realised how difficult it is for the salaried class to gather funds needed for building houses". His estimate of the houses required under the scheme is 10 million. Unfortunately this example focuses on government employees who enjoy benefits which are simply not commensurate with those employed in the private sector.
The Prime Minister further claimed that "investors are lined up to come in, while we're also trying to bring in the private sector and help young entrepreneurs and youth [enter the housing industry]." He elaborated on his vision: to turn the country's slums into towering high rises through revolutionary new Chinese construction mechanisms citing one Chinese company informing him that they could make prefabricated houses/flats and build one floor in just one week." In his typical optimistic manner he said "we will give them land, they will quickly construct flats, and all slums will get converted."
The target number of flats during the first phase would be 135,000 with 110,000 to be constructed for the fishermen of Gwadar with 25,000 to be built in Islamabad for government employees. The government will create a 5 billion rupee revolving fund which would be used to extend 20 billion loans to aspiring house owners and facilitate the lenders and the borrowers by giving tax incentives to low cost housing. Imitation is the best form of flattery and perhaps in response to the Prime Minister's programme the Sindh government in March launched a low cost housing scheme for the poor in Karachi with 80 square-yard plot priced at 80,000 rupees; 120 square-yard plots at 120,000 rupees, 240 square-yard plot at 528,000 rupees; and 400 square-yard plots at 1,200,000 rupees.
Some obvious clarifications in the PM's scheme are required: would the prospective owners be required to pay any down payment? If not who would pay the bills of private construction companies, local or foreign? Would only low income government employees be eligible? If private sector employees are eligible then who would be the guarantor? If widows and destitute are also eligible then would their installments be lower and if so who would fund the difference? And finally, would the Prime Minister be able to mobilize the rich to sponsor the monthly installments of the destitute? Would NGOs be allowed to engage in assisting the poor pay for their monthly installments?
To conclude, the Naya housing scheme is still being developed but one would hope that the government undertakes a feasibility study, launches it as a pilot project which must be evaluated to determine the success (or otherwise) of the policy and it may be tweaked if appropriate.
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