LAHORE: Experts at an interactive session organised by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) unanimously agreed that the country continues to be a national security state with a bulk of resources pre-empted by the security establishment, as inequality is not a problem for budget makers.

They said the government’s ‘favourite’ programmes of motorways, metro buses and transport corridors were a priority over the energy crisis. The session, titled ‘Economy Watch: The 2014-15 Budgets and the Rights of the People’, was held at the HRCP auditorium on Friday.

Opening the session, HRCP Director Hussain Naqi said the commission watched the country’s economy in view of people’s rights-focused allocations in budgets each year and continued to hold such discussions to identify the missing areas that halted the path of good governance and provision of rights to the people.

While presenting his papers on the budget, eminent economist Dr Pervaiz Tahir said though inequality was a major issue, but it seemed to be of no concern to the budget makers.

“Over 60pc of those working in vulnerable employment, around 75pc of the population poor or vulnerable, slowdown of growth over the past six years and its failure to pick up despite pro-business stance of the government together with fiscal and current accounts deficit portray a picture of an economy with deeply embedded structural deformations,” Dr Tahir deplored.

He said the 2014-15 budget reflected the government’s agenda of development but missed various aspects required to be focused on to provide rights to the people, especially clean environment and education. He said budget priorities continued to be tilted towards infrastructure, motorways, metro buses and transport instead of energy sector -- a very crucial national issue.

“The room provided by the 7th National Finance Commission Award to the provinces to allocate larger amounts to the achievement of social and economic rights has been preempted by the internal security establishment of the provinces,” he added.

Local leadership, good governance and effective management, particularly at the provincial and district levels, was necessary to respond to the needs of the people and implement the social and economic wellbeing promised by the Constitution.

Dr Tahir also quoted a recent survey in which a majority of respondents termed the rich-poor gap a very big problem, holding the country’s economic policies responsible.

“Devolution under the 18th Amendment should have led to further devolution to the local level,” he added. He said one of the important reasons for the lack of rights-based content in budgets was the unending practice of leaving the budget making process largely to the bureaucracy.

Speaking on the occasion, another expert Raza Ahmad pointed out a large number of ghost schools in Sindh, saying the provincial government had established a huge number of surplus schools without any planning.

“Now there are many additional schools, but without teachers,” he deplored, urging the provincial governments to end ill-planned practices. He said the Punjab government would have to change its priorities by preferring the energy sector rather than focusing on infrastructure and metro buses-like projects.

Sikandar Lodhi sought good economic governance by considering expenditures and needs of the people.

Published in Dawn, November 8th , 2014