November 20, 2006	Monday	Shawwal 27, 1427

RECRUITMENT to the government services has been re-opened in Sindh and all the posts will be filled on the basis of merit and transparently, say governor Ishrat ul Ibad and chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim.

How many jobs are to be created in a province with already over half a million government employees, is not obvious now. Any way, the total may be eventually very large.

Job giving has been more on a political basis in Sindh to please the party workers and make the political party more popular. How much of a departure from the past will be made by the government which is politically not too strong, remains to be seen.

Jobs were also sold by the ruling party MNAs and MPAs as each one was given a certain quota by the government in the past. The legislators appointed some of their relations and friends in such posts and sold the other posts for money.

The political approach to jobs also resulted in the creation of a large number of ghost schools and ghost teachers in which Sindh led the other provinces. The recent educational census showed Sindh as having more than 7000 ghost schools with numerous ghost teachers.

Now, the jobs have to be given on merit, as promised to acknowledge and reward merit and ensure good governance. In a country with heavy unemployment, the recruitment should be transparent to reduce the heartburn among the unemployed and the number of crimes.

But it is far more important to create jobs in the private sector than provide too many jobs in the government sector and later pay large pensions to the employees. Unfortunately, Sindh has not been very active in areas like the creation of new industrial estates in which Punjab has taken the lead.

But the central government proposes to set up a textile city and an industrial park within the Port Qasim area. Dr Arbab has spoken of foreign investment coming in following the completion of the infrastructural projects now underway.

The largest foreign investment project is the two islands scheme in which the UAE investors will make a total investment of Rs43 billion, but that has been strongly objected to by fishermen of the area and others who are moving the courts against the sales of the island.

On Dr Arbab’s part, he is thinking in terms of providing employment to the rural folks and vegetable growers. So he has spoken of a new vegetable market in Karachi, in Tando Allahyar and Mirpurkhas. He also proposes a fish, meat and vegetable market in Qasimabad, Hyderabad.

While the rural folks and growers of vegetables should be given all possible assistance, the problem of educated unemployment which afflicts the youths in the cities should also be attended to.

In the cities, we have educated youth without jobs and on the other side a large number of the unemployed or poorly employed without skills. Few carpenters, plumbers, masons are available while the city needs more of such competent men.

The country needs a large number of technical training institutes which are well organised and well equipped. They should also offer short-term courses in carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electrical work and other aspects of construction, cooking etc

Along with that micro credit institutions should become widespread and adequate to the needs in a country with large scale unemployment and where more and more people are taking to crime and finding that very lucrative.

President Musharraf wants a technical training institute at every union council level. If that can be achieved, that would be very creditable. But that is too much to hope for as long as too many union councils are busy bickering over petty issues and personal concerns of their office bearers. Some union councils in the cities and major towns may be able to set up and sustain such training institutes and they should be encouraged and assisted.

The Sindh government would need to recruit a large number of teachers and doctors. It would need real teachers instead of ghost teachers in over 7000 ghost schools identified by the educational census and it will need real doctors instead of the absentee medical men in government hospitals.

The CM talks of improving 43000 schools and setting up of 1200 new schools. These schools would need a large number of teachers and they should be recruited on merit and transparently as promised by the governor and the chief minister.

The CM has offered to open a new medical college and a college of business administration in Mirpurkhas that is to receive a great deal of importance in the new scheme of things. Enough efforts have not been made to attract investment in Sindh (except Karachi) including foreign investment. Inadequate infrastructure along with rising violence and increasing crime and an ineffective government have been major deterrents.

The CM promises to remedy the infrastructural inadequacy, I hope he does that quickly.

Much of the foreign investment which has come into Sindh has gone into oil and gas exploration. As a result, Sindh now produces more gas than Sui and promises to offer far more as the exploration efforts are stepped up. Far more investment in oil and gas exploration should be attracted to add to its petroleum wealth.

While the Punjab is setting up industrial estates beginning with Sundar, Sindh has done little in that regard. And the first industrial estate in Karachi SITE is crumbling for want of due care. Other industrial estates in Karachi like the Korangi estate are handicapped by the shortage of water, power and other infrastructural bottlenecks.

If such inadequacies are eliminated, a lot more employment can be created and industrial production can rise substantially.

The other industrial estate in Sindh has remained stunted because of the crime for which Dadu has become famous.

The focus of the government should be more on creation of jobs in the private sector and through public private partnership than on the government providing a large number of low paid jobs. Any way the government job should be provided on merit and utterly transparently. And care should be taken not to add to the ghost teachers and doctors.

A large increase in employment by the government increases inflation at one end and more red tape and rising corruption at the other end which is the antithesis of good governance. It will also lead to the swelling of the number of pensioners who may not have done enough to warrant such financial assistance amidst the prevalence of too many ghost employees in high and low places in the government.