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| March 15, 2008 | Saturday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 6, 1429 |
Perils of ignoring research
Vanishing pavements
New economic agenda
OTHER VOICES - Bangladesh Press
THE primary objective of the new government in the economic sphere should be to change the way the government works and to reorganise its administrative structure with a view to achieving maximum efficiency and productivity.
AMBIGUITY surrounds Wednesday’s missile strike in North Waziristan by the American-led coalition forces based in Afghanistan. The attack killed two women and two children and none of the militants. The Pakistan Army spokesman says the army has launched a protest with the coalition forces; the latter say they had informed the Pakistanis of the offensive. If that is the case, it is not clear whether the protest launched by Pakistan is over the Americans’ missile attack on militants inside Pakistani territory — an idea which finds ready appeal with many US officials and leaders — or over the targeting of the wrong people. Given the number of strikes launched inside Pakistan by the coalition forces in recent months, it is credible that a tacit understanding may exist between Washington and Islamabad over such strikes. If so, it is all the more important to augment the existing communication and intelligence-sharing mechanisms between the two sides to avoid loss of innocent lives, as has been the case in the latest strike. By comparison, last January’s attack in North Waziristan, which reportedly killed the Al Qaeda commander Abu Laith al-Libi, caused little embarrassment to anyone involved.
The death of women and children in Wednesday’s attack cannot be explained away as ‘collateral damage’; no such sinister terminology can justify the killing of civilians. Militants are known to have used innocent people as human shields to avoid strikes against themselves, but the appalling record of American failures in targeting the right people is also a fact. Here may be the world’s best equipped army in terms of its firepower; but it is American intelligence behind the US forces which has been found woefully lacking in identifying the right targets time and again. The precision-guided missiles will land where they are programmed to; on the ground this has had little to do with whether they have been actually landing in the right place, destroying the targets meant to be hit — and not innocent civilians.
The answer lies in strengthening coordination between the Pakistan Army and the coalition forces operating from across the border inside Afghanistan. That is, indeed, if the American policy of launching missile attacks inside our territory is to be tolerated at all. Unless all loopholes in the lines of communication and intelligence-sharing are plugged, further loss of innocent lives cannot be ruled out. With the political government ready to assume office in Islamabad in the days ahead, it is important that the subject is revisited with the Americans. If the ‘hot pursuit’ policy is to be agreed to, it must be made conditional on putting further safeguards in place to keep the civilian population residing along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border out of harm’s way.
ONE of the reasons why we as a nation are not taken with due seriousness by the international community is our inability to contribute much, if anything, to humanity’s march towards a better tomorrow. While we enjoy the bounties of multifarious research that is carried out across the globe, we rather sadly remain part of the ‘other’ world that has proved itself incapable of making a contribution to science and technology. For reasons that are not totally incomprehensible, this ‘other’ world is largely considered to be an entity with parasitic tendencies to latch on to the ‘functional’ world for which it has become a sort of excess baggage to carry along. Even worse is the fact that we do not actually deserve to carry this unflattering tag. Pakistanis are enterprising people and the country does have the resources, both natural and financial, to indulge in meaningful research that will ultimately resolve many of our problems.
One can but hope that the new government, whenever it takes over the reins of the country, will pay due heed to the call of Allama Iqbal Open University’s vice-chancellor who certainly hit the nail on the head when he said nations cannot survive without focusing on research activities, especially in the field of science. Certain initiatives taken by the Higher Education Commission, the Punjab Education Foundation and such other bodies are, indeed, praiseworthy. Also worthy of mention is the case of the Ministry of Science and Technology which decided not just to revamp itself, but also put in place a full-fledged commission to expedite research undertakings and to find local markets for their output. But the need cannot be denied of a thread that should run through and link all these scattered initiatives to have a realistic hope of a comprehensive change in the status quo. Moreover, the importance of promoting education in a big way cannot be over-emphasised. In a country where only a small ratio of children complete their schooling — most of it of poor quality — and fewer still go to institutions of higher education, how can science and research make any headway?
Also in need of urgent transformation is the national psyche which over the years has been tranquillised with tales recounting the laurels of Muslim scientists of mediaeval ages who had a profound influence on European renaissance. Their achievements were obviously impressive. But there are enough grounds to question why the glorious tradition of scientific research came to a grinding halt. Inquiry is the key to research. If people — including students at all levels — are not encouraged to question the veracity of the ‘facts’ doled out to them and express dissenting opinions, a culture that embraces science will be missing from our society.
THE pervasive culture of turning public goods into private property has insidiously crept into Pakistani society over the years. It is rapidly squeezing out of existence the space created under the law for community use. One victim of this phenomenon is the pavement — largely used by the poor who are forced to walk since they do not own private transport. According to a report published in this newspaper, there has been an alarming increase in encroachments on pavements by vendors, pushcarts and even shopkeepers in many localities of Karachi. As a result, pedestrians are forced to walk on the road exposing themselves to the risk of accidents. Civic authorities have not been very helpful either. While widening roads they have no qualms about doing away with the pavement altogether which in their view is a waste of good space. In other places, the sidewalks that have been dug up to repair telephone/power lines have not been paved again, making it impossible to walk on them.
Such blatant grabbing of community space on such a large scale — this is common in all cities — cannot take place without ‘protection’ from those whose duty it is to enforce the law. The nebulous excuse given is that these encroachments allow countless poor families to earn their livelihood. It is, of course, another matter that these poor families have to enter into under-the-counter deals to earn their space. A more feasible approach would be to create space for hawkers — mainly in pedestrian zones where people can walk without the danger of being run over. In 2002, a hawkers’ zone was created in one neighbourhood of Karachi but it seems the idea never caught on. Hence, not surprisingly, the anti-encroachment drives launched periodically have proved to be an eyewash. Hawkers have returned to the pavement after paying higher ‘protection’ money. What is needed is a well thought-out road plan to clear illegal encroachments and restore pavements to pedestrians whose domain they rightly are.
A lean, new, administrative and dynamic economic decision-making structure is required in Islamabad. The ministries dealing with economic issues need to be reduced, realigned and streamlined. The following suggestions are made towards that end.
The Ministry of Finance has become too large and powerful and its very size often drags down the decision-making process as it is involved in formulating policy for virtually every aspect of the government where money is required and spent. Its functions should be restricted to raising revenues through the Federal Bureau of Revenue, providing funds for running the government and preparing budgetary recommendations for parliament. These functions alone would require an extensive and renewed focus as we enter a very crucial and difficult financial year.
The lopsided economic growth of the last few years has been singularly characterised by a lack of strategic economic planning resulting in the emergence of various crises the country is confronted with today. The need for a full-fledged Ministry of Planning and Development has never been greater. A full-time Minister for Planning & Development who shall be responsible for planning and overseeing the development of the economy must be appointed. The Economic Affairs Division, BOI and PIDC should also be placed under this ministry. After a prolonged gap in our economic planning it is time to prepare immediately a dynamic plan aimed at achieving strong industrial and agricultural growth annually. All non-revenue funds meant for development should be under the direct control of this ministry. Development is the key to a prosperous future and needs to take place at maximum speed with minimal hiccups. Financial control is important and crucial to its success.
A new Ministry of Economic Affairs should be created comprising the ministries of commerce, textiles, industry and production to coordinate their activities more closely with a view to achieving their objectives more efficiently. The Trade Development Authority and the Privatisation Commission should also be under the control of this ministry. These are important ministries and organisations and their activities are quite closely intertwined.
A centralised focus on their activities would create the necessary momentum for dynamic growth. These measures are radical and bold in nature and if implemented properly would substantially improve the functioning of the government and help achieve growth targets. To be sure there would be stiff bureaucratic resistance but these reforms are long overdue and necessary. A singular decision-making structure covering the functions of these ministries would speed up the much-needed reforms.
The Ministry of Communications needs to be strengthened to manage the Railways, National Shipping Corporation, National Highway Authority as well as PIA and Civil Aviation which must be taken away from the Ministry of Defence. To develop a modern economy, an efficient and comprehensive communications system needs to be formulated, streamlined, modernised and strengthened. A bold and dynamic policy in this respect is essential.
The budget-making exercise has already started and it will be important for the government to set up a budget committee in the National Assembly to preview all budgetary recommendations and allocations before their submission to the National Assembly. The preview should not be conducted by the bureaucrats but by the people’s representatives who can and should determine national priorities. Instead of the budget being announced in mid-June and only two weeks of discussion in the National Assembly, the budget should be announced in early June and one month’s national debate should be allowed before the National Assembly approves the document. For too long our budget-making process has been controlled by the bureaucrats and the politicians have hardly been involved. It is time to change that.
The above-mentioned reforms would create a dynamic infrastructure for expediting growth and development. Fewer decision-making levels and firmer policy control by the people’s representatives would eliminate the time-wasting exercises so often seen in Islamabad’s bureaucratic corridors. The next step would be to tackle the multifaceted crises which have been inherited from the myopic policies of the PML-Q.
The massive trade deficit and the current account deficit would need to be tackled immediately. The already obvious decline in exports calls for placing of restrictions on the unbridled growth of imports. The trade gap can and should be reduced from the current high of $15bn to less than $5bn in fiscal year 2008-2009 by cutting down on unnecessary and non-priority imports at least for the next year. The current account deficit will need to be cleared as soon as possible — a really tough task in view of declining exports, pressure on foreign exchange reserves and other fiscal priorities.
At the same time, to ensure the long-term stability of the rupee, a ‘permanent’ foreign exchange reserves target equal to at least one year’s average imports needs to be set. This can be done by regularly setting aside at least 10 per cent of all our foreign exchange earnings, including home remittances, into that reserve.
The new government will also have to give top priority to evolving an investment policy designed to not only encourage but give a big boost to new industrial activity in the country. Apart from reducing the corporate income tax rate, the measures could include providing free land to serious and qualified investors as has been very successfully done in China and Turkey. The PML-Q government’s industrial parks initiative has been a big flop in Sindh where Textile City, Garments City and other similar plans have remained stuck in interdepartmental disputes for the last three years, exposing the flaws in the scheme.
A planned reduction of at least 5-10 per cent per annum in non-development expenditure for the next three years is a must. This would be essential to reduce the budgetary gap and save the poor people of Pakistan from getting taxed more and more to meet the needs of unplanned growth in government expenditure. The first target in this respect must be the VIP culture which continued to flourish unashamedly during the last few years. The massive perks to VIPs, the endless security details and pointless foreign tours need to be checked and brought under control.
A fundamental review of the privatisation programme is required immediately and the ‘sell-off’ approach needs to be replaced with the concept of ‘public-private’ partnership. With this approach, in which the government shares the ownership of national assets with thousands of investors, the closing down of the Privatisation Commission may become desirable and its responsibilities passed on to the boards of the units requiring more broad-based ownership.
Lastly, as Mr Zardari has already indicated, we need to open up full trade relations with India. This would open a very big market for Pakistani goods and products and could benefit the economy substantially.
Correct flaws in ordinance
Sangbad
BANGLADESH has moved to put in place an ordinance to ensure the people’s right to information, but critics say it will not guarantee access to what is worth knowing. They say the ordinance contains provisions for the right to information but prevents people getting it at the same time....
The move on the ordinance is commendable. Past political governments failed to pass the law which could ensure transparency and accountability in governance. It was unexpected of the military administrations of Ziaur Rehman and H.M. Ershad to think of such a law. But the caretaker government [the Fakhruddin administration] made the necessary, auspicious beginning.
Doubts linger.... The purpose of the law should be to ensure accountability in the everyday work of public authorities. It means people have the right to seek information from public authorities such as ministries, departments, divisions and any organisation set up in line with the constitution or any law passed by parliament.
Equally, people have the right to seek information from any non-governmental organisation working for the government, human rights or public welfare. The broader principle is that public servants or officials of other organisations running on taxpayer money or government funds, as well as representatives elected by the people, have to provide information.
Part of the ordinance drew flak... because it covers companies, corporations, trusts, firms, cooperative societies, non-governmental organisations, associations or any other organisation listed in line with any law of Bangladesh. This is a blanket use of the law and is meant to kowtow to public servants.
There are several regulatory bodies to control and discipline companies and non-governmental organisations, and people may seek information from the regulators if necessary. — (March 13)
Let the ordinance be strong
Samokal
THE round-table discussion by the information ministry that put the proposed Right to Information Ordinance up for public debate deserves appreciation.
Constitutionally, we have the right to seek information from the government or the state, but a series of laws including the Official Secrets Act are the roadblock.
Secrecy and lack of transparency in government bred corruption in Bangladesh.
As the scope for democracy widened, countries around the world passed such laws. More than 50 countries have a Right to Information Act now.
The political governments — unfortunately — did not care much to have a law such as this. The caretaker government is pledge-bound to have one.
Clouds loom on the horizon. Although the ordinance will be passed by the caretaker government, the future political government has to make it effective after endorsing it in parliament. And there is doubt here.
The government must engage political parties in the open debate on the ordinance to make it complete with the participation of all.
We hope the government will be able to remove the flaws in the ordinance and ensure the people’s right to know — to help democracy flourish. — (March 13)
— Selected and translated by Arun Devnath.