| June 22, 2002 | Saturday | Rabi-us-Sani 10, 1423 |
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Regulating madressahs
ONE cannot be certain that the Sindh budget announced on Thursday will bring cheer to the common man. Coming against the backdrop of hopelessness, despair and cynicism referred to by the provincial finance minister in his speech, it would require not just a massive injection of funds but also actual implementation of policies to regain the confidence of the people. As it is, 2001-02 was a difficult year for the province, as it was for the rest of the country. Sindh’s economy suffered from the aftermath of 9/11, which had a dampening effect on economic activity. The drought and the resultant fall in agricultural production, the recurring violence and the declining trend in trade and investment also took their toll. Add to this the pervasive bane of administrative corruption and the ground was set to make the life of the common people of Sindh miserable.
In this situation, the Sindh government must be commended for taking on the task of financial discipline in which it seems to have succeeded. Unpaid dues to the tune of Rs 20 billion were recovered during the outgoing year and the province’s debt to the State Bank was repaid in full while overdraft was avoided altogether. Good financial management has helped the government draw up a Rs 93 million surplus budget for 2002-3. The revenue expenditure of Rs 84.9 billion for the next fiscal year registers a rise of nine per cent over the outgoing year’s revised estimates. What is more significant is that the development outlay of Rs 14.4 billion shows a jump of 44 per cent over the outgoing year’s figures. These increases are much more than what were announced in June 2001, leading one to conclude that economic activity is picking up.
The main problem all provinces in the country have faced is the inelasticity of their revenue base and their over dependence on federal grants and their share in the divisible pool. Sindh is no exception. Of the total of Rs 64.4 billion shown as the revenue receipts for 2002-3, Rs 55.9 billion will come from the Federal Tax Assignments which have grown at a modest rate over the years — in 2002-3 the increase will be 6.4 per cent. But the provincial tax revenues account for only a small part of Sindh’s income. As a result of the slowdown in economic activity, there was a marked decline in revenues under some heads such as transfer of property tax, professional tax, and stamp duties. Strangely, the increases came from the motor vehicle tax and the higher collection from the health services. Although social justice demands that the agricultural income be taxed, the big landowners have been let off lightly. In fact, the budget estimates for 2001-2 for tax on agricultural income (Rs 700 million) registered a fall (Rs 550 million) in the revised estimates for this year. With land revenue having been abolished in 1999-2000, the landed aristocracy is having a field day. The government has now announced that it has decided in principle to abolish the motor vehicle tax (though it is shown in the budget) and it will be replaced by a ‘revenue neutral’ road user charge on fuel. It is not clear how it is to be applied but one hopes it will not further burden the average commuters. No new taxes have been imposed but the fact is that indirect taxation has not helped eliminate poverty which the government claims to be its main priority. Nearly 50 per cent of the people in the rural areas of Sindh are said to be living below the poverty line.
How is the money to be spent? In the revenue budget, the biggest chunks in 2002-3 will be claimed by the administration (Rs 18.7 billion), debt servicing (Rs 18.33 billion) and the education sector (Rs 18.32 billion) in that order. On the development side, education is the biggest beneficiary as in the past, though when the axe falls it is the first one to be affected. Whether the increased spending next year will actually make an impact on people’s life remains to be seen. Corruption and waste need to be checked. Thus Rs 81.2 million was said to have been spent on the anti-malarial programme in 2001-2 though the resurgence of malaria, especially of the drug resistant variety, tells a different story. The experiment in devolution which has 70 per cent of the development funds set aside for the district governments has yet to prove its efficacy. Given the resource constraints, the government’s task of financial management is undoubtedly a challenging one. But more important than that is the political will and commitment it brings to bear on this task.
FINALLY, the government has announced the policy to register and regulate the hundreds of madressahs operating in the country. A key component of the new policy is the establishment of the madressah education boards at the federal and provincial levels, which will ensure, among other things, that the syllabus taught at religious schools includes the compulsory subjects of English, Urdu, mathematics and science. This will bring the madressah education system on a par with the regular public education system and open up opportunities for the madressah students to join institutions of higher learning after completing religious education. The policy will thus bridge the existing gap between the two parallel education systems and pave the way for the madressah students to join the mainstream job market. The ban on any foreign funding for a madressah and requiring all madressahs to submit their accounts for audit on an annual basis are also steps in the right direction and cannot be faulted.
Madressahs have been given six months to complete the required registration formalities which is a realistic timeframe. Those that fail or refuse to do so will be shut down under the new policy. The Madressah Registration Ordinance 2002 also bars a religious school from admitting a foreign student or hiring a foreign teacher without obtaining a no-objection certificate from the interior ministry prior to such admissions or appointments. These regulatory rules have come at a time when serious efforts are being made to check the growth of militancy and sectarianism, which have often been linked to certain madressahs. The latter could not be brought under scrutiny because of the absence of a governing mechanism and a competent authority to regulate and oversee the working of the madressah system. That deficiency has now been removed.
Various religious parties, which manage and operate many of the madressahs, will do well not to oppose any of the provisions of the new law. The way these rules are framed, they will help rather than hamper any aspect of the legitimate functioning and activity of the madressahs. Indeed, if adhered to in both letter and spirit, the new dispensation will strengthen the madressah education system to the benefit of the students and society at large over the longer term, and help further the cause of education in the country. A religious party that wishes to stay relevant to the changing needs and aspirations of the people will see the good coming out of the new regulatory system over a period of time. It allows all schools of religious thought to freely impart religious education in accordance with their beliefs and values, while preventing them from fostering religious intolerance or militancy under any garb.