THE economic indicators of Pakistan, as given in the UNDP’s 2003 report, paint an alarming picture. Sixty-six per cent of the 140 million Pakistanis are living in abject poverty and their daily income amounts to less than Rs100. Similarly, 19 per cent people are under-nourished while unemployment among the educated youth of the country soared from five per cent in 1990s to 13 per cent in 2001. Another area of concern is education as, according to the report, 34 per cent children do not reach primary schools.
The State Bank of Pakistan report for 2002-03 depicts more less the same picture of the national economy saying that around 44 per cent of the population is living below the poverty line.
The understanding of economic experts about this state of poverty is that if the monthly income of a family of five persons from all resources is less than Rs1,500/-, it can hardly maintain its subsistence level and is therefore living below the poverty line. The same report puts unemployment at 9.4 per cent and inflation around 12 per cent.
Added to this, is the inefficient state machinery that has contributed amply, to the economic deterioration as the CBR could collect only Rs14.3 billion in GST by the end of September. The failure of the CBR to realize taxes from big and medium industries and commercial concerns means that burden of bridging the yawning gap of collections has obviously shifted to the poor.
With this grim picture of rising poverty, the detail of our parliamentarians assets, as compiled and released by the Election Commission of Pakistan on the basis of returns filed by them, portrays a huge social anomaly. It is very obvious that the myth of the class system has yet to explode and society is clearly divided between the haves and have-nots. This despite the government’s tall claims of the effectiveness of a variety of its poverty alleviation plans.
The study of the lawmakers’ assets is enough to give a picture of the instability of our society; where fruits of so-called economic reforms have yet to trickle down to the overwhelming majority of the people and which has established beyond doubt that the ruling elite continues to possess much of the national wealth.
Even this declaration of their wealth cannot be held above board. For example, the Chaudhries family from Gujrat, who are believed to be the second wealthiest family of the country with a huge industrial empire, have not shown the worth of their sugar and textile mills and other industries and many have chosen to give revenue details of their property without giving their value. Many more only mentioned their bank balances without apprising the people of their known resources of income.
The declaration of Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali may be another category as he only told the Election Commission that there is no change in his assets he had filed with the returning officer of Jafarabad along with his nomination papers for election. The commission also did not bother to append the earlier detail of the prime minister’s assets in its 3,667-page report which was released on November 16, 2003.
The report quotes Chaudhry Shujaat Husain as having said he has assets worth Rs68 million which includes Rs50.6 as cash in hand. His cousin Chief Minister Pervez Elahi has shown his assets at Rs88.85 million. This means that the military officer’s son and federal minister Humayun Akhtar Khan has assets larger than the Chaudhries as he has declared his property is worth Rs140 million. He has only mentioned his agricultural land at Toba Tek Singh and not the huge beverages industry he is running.
Another son of a military ruler Ijazul Haq says he owns a property valuing Rs40 million. The report seems confusing the popular perceptions. It may well be a planned exposure of the legislators more than meeting the legal requirement which may itself be eying on some future political scheme.
It was in this context that the decision to give the MNAs and Senators a raise in their salaries and allowances, was taken by the people. The decision of raising their monthly salary from Rs17,600 to Rs38,000 with 50 per cent increase in their allowances, was taken at a high level meeting on November 12 with Prime Minister Jamali in the chair. The increase would have been embarrassing for the government if decided after the Election Commission report released for four days later.
The question of this controversial increase was raised with the Lahore High Court by advocate M D Tahir through a writ petition which says, “...this news (of raise) has shocked the entire nation a majority of which is finding it hard to keep their body and soul together .. their (of the working people) wages and allowances have not been raised for years and they are living a miserable life, groaning under mounting inflation and increasing utility bills seems to have widened the gap between the people and their representatives who have yet to do something for them in parliament”.
The petition was returned to the lawyer with objection by the registrar’s office that it was not supported by a notification indicating such a raise. He filed the petition afresh saying that notification are not issued after such meetings. This time he cited many a Supreme Court judgments contending that newspaper clippings were accepted as evidence and he has appended newspaper reports with the petition. But the lawyer’s second attempt also ended in futility as it was again returned with the same objection.
It may be pertinent to mention that legislators get a salary in addition to allowances for the payment of telephone bills and office maintenance in addition to a sumptuary allowance. This amount is a fixed income they get each month even if the assembly is not in session. During the session they also get a daily allowance, travelling allowance and free accommodation. The military government gave the provincial MPs a raise back in October 2002, almost simultaneous with the holding of elections that year. This was done through ordinances as it required only amendments in the law regulating the MPAs salaries and allowances.
The National Assembly and the Senate have their own rules as this is done through motions that are followed by separate notifications. That is why a decision for the upper house has been reached to be carried through motions.
The raise in salaries and allowances for the Punjab was effected on October 21, 2002. By amending the law, the MPAs are now getting Rs10,000 as salary as against Rs4,500. As for allowances, they get Rs5,000 for telephone, Rs5,000 for office maintenance and another Rs3,000 as sumptuary allowance. When the assembly is in session, they get additional allowances every day. This includes Rs500 as daily allowance, Rs400 as conveyance allowance and Rs1,500 as accommodation allowance. Besides, they also get an allowance of three rupees per kilometre for travelling to Lahore and back to their homes.
But the Punjab ministers, whose number has recently risen to 41 to form the largest ever cabinet, get much more in monthly salary and allowances and other facilities at the expense of the public exchequer. A minister’s salary is Rs35,000 with a sumptuary allowance of Rs6,000 in addition to a fully furnished residence and office, free transport, two telephones at office and two at home, an annual discretionary grant of Rs300,000, and if he or she is on an official tour, another Rs550 as daily allowance in addition to free transport in the city they are visiting. The speaker gets Rs37,000 in salary and allowances and other facilities a little more than a minister. The deputy speaker is almost at par with a provincial minister.
The number of legislators at the centre and at provinces is 1,170. There are 342 MNAs and 100 senators, 371 members of the Punjab Assembly, 168 members of the Sindh Assembly, 124 of the NWFP Assembly and 65 of the Balochistan Assembly. Their monthly salary and allowances alone cost this nation an amount of Rs1.9 billion per year. This does not include the additional allowances which they get while their legislators are in session. The robust allowances and facilities of a whole army of the prime minister, chief ministers, federal and provincial ministers, parliamentary secretaries and advisers, may not be easy to ascertain. But it can easily be presumed to be well over Rs2.5 billion a year.
The same estimates show that each one of the MNA is annually taking home at least Rs520,000 and one MPA Rs335,000. Is the price our legislators are asking from a poor nation of 140 people for the working the kind of democracy we have in this country, not high? Is it worth it or if the ostentation with which our elected representatives are living, in any way proportionate to our resources or the life of the common people?
