| 12 May 2004 | Wednesday | 21 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425 |
Promise and reality
As crime graph rises
The federal government is apparently trying to arm-twist the provinces into accepting a resource distribution formula which the federating units find rather unfair. The provinces are asking for a 50 per cent share in the divisible pool.
They justify their demand on grounds of their needs which are vast and varied. The federal government, on the other hand, has so far given no convincing justification for continuing with the old formula in which the share of the provinces is limited to 37 per cent plus the usual grants and subventions.
The offer of a 47 per cent share without grants and subvention, but including 2.5 per cent share from GST (to go to the local governments), is like offering old wine in new bottles.
One does not understand the insistence of successive federal governments, including the present one, to keep excessive economic power in its own hands despite the experience of the past many years that centralized management of the economy has only made life at the grassroots level more miserable because of long, unwieldy supply lines which taper off into nothingness by the time they reach the point of delivery.
This concept of centralized economic management has continued to deprive the provinces of their role in the national economic development process. Any concept of devolution of power is unthinkable so long as the national purse strings remain firmly in the hands of the federation.
The long stalemate over the finalization of the sixth national finance commission award is due primarily to a conflict of interests between the two sides - with the provincial finance ministers demanding a 50 per cent share in the federal divisible pool and the federal finance minister unwilling to concede more than 47 per cent and that too with the exclusion of subventions and grants now available.
All attempts at reconciling the two viewpoints have so far failed. This has created space for politicians to play with people's emotions. Since nothing can be done about it at this stage as it would require a constitutional amendment to reconstitute the commission with independent persons without any vested interest in the final award, we have to make do with what we have at present.
Since it is the federation that holds the whip hand in the matter today, one would expect the federal finance ministry to come up in the national interest with a more equitable decision rather than insisting on continuing with the old formula through the promulgation of an ordinance.
If its claim that the divisible pool has expanded considerably over the last four years is not just a tall claim, then the federation should be able to meet its requirements from a larger chunk of resources it would get from a 50 per cent share of the divisible pool. And if there are any shortfalls, the federation can always negotiate with the provinces to take up the slack on federal projects falling within their territorial jurisdiction. One more thing, the demand of some provinces that the cost of collection should be reduced from five per cent to two per cent is misplaced.
Under the Constitution, the auditor-general after auditing the accounts every year fixes the cost of collection for that year which in most years in the past has never been even two per cent of the total collection. A compromise solution could possibly have been raising the provincial share in the divisible pool to 47 per cent but not excluding the subventions and grants now available to some of the provinces.
Promise and reality
The recent attack on the studios of musicians in a Peshawar locality is dismaying. The attack took place in Dabgari, an old city locality, from where the musicians have been operating for the past twenty years or so.
Of late, these hapless artistes seem to have fallen foul of the MMA government's so-called anti-obscenity drive. Certain people in the province have taken it upon themselves to check what they see as vulgarity and in the process, take the law into their own hands. For its part, the government looks the other way as these incidents take place.
To his credit, a magistrate of the local administration sent 13 people, including the Nazim, to jail the next day for their violent behaviour. The MMA responded to this incident by saying that it would support artistes "in every way possible." But the record of the MMA speaks otherwise.
With its assuming the control of the government in the NWFP, the tendency of targeting certain sections of society, including women, seems to have increased. In a previous instance, the party faithful led a drive against what they perceived as vulgarity on the billboards in Peshawar which featured female models.
Addressing a press conference in Peshawar, the local musicians alleged that attacks on them were a recurring phenomenon ever since the MMA came into power. They also said that complaints lodged with the government had yielded no remedy or restraint.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has pointed out that every citizen of the country has a right to adopt any profession within the law. Depriving someone of this right is against the international charter of human rights and the Constitution of Pakistan.
It is time the provincial government took notice of the tendency on the part of its supporters to act as a 'moral brigade' and ensure that this kind of behaviour is not tolerated in the future.
As crime graph rises
Despite hopeful pronouncements made by the chief minister on Monday, the law and order situation in Sindh is in appalling state. Last week, 15 people were killed in a sectarian attack on a Friday congregation.
There have been 96 bomb explosions in Karachi since 1987 in which 350 people have died. This indicates the failure of our law enforcement agencies, especially the intelligence branch, in tracking down those responsible. The chief minister's promise to improve the working of this outfit is welcome as far as it goes.
However, whether these agencies will be used to go at common criminals and terrorists or be used to harass political opponents, as has been done in the past, remains to be seen.
By and large, the crime graph in the province, particularly Karachi, has been rising. A 20 per cent increase in car thefts in the first four months of this year is an example in point. The worst sufferers are business and industry.
Karachi's three main industrial areas suffered losses in the past few months because of the worsening law and order situation. The industries in these major areas suffered up to 50 per cent losses as production levels went down.
This was because of thin attendance in factories for reasons of violence and disturbances in the city, resulting in interruptions in raw material supply as vehicles were forced off roads and an inability to work more than one shift in a day as workers had to get back home in day time.
Since 2000, the government has spent an estimated Rs33 billion on the Sindh police but there is little to show for it. Annually, the police receive nine billion rupees in allocation, which is about 10 per cent of the Sindh budget.
Of this amount, 80 per cent is spent on salaries and perks for police officials. Overall, 18 per cent of the provincial budget goes to law enforcement agencies, including the police, the Rangers and the Frontier Constabulary.
And yet armed robberies, thefts, kidnapping, assaults and petty crime keep on rising. In addition, politically motivated violence as well as acts of terrorism have made things worse and dented the country's image among investors. The government needs to take a closer look at the on-ground realities instead of seeking comfort in its own rhetoric.