Enough of spoon-feeding

AFTER the completion of the fifth review of Pakistan’s three-year, 1.47 billion dollar Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement, the IMF has released the sixth tranche of 123 million dollars bringing the total released so far under this programme to about 738 million dollars. While approving the new tranche, the executive board of the Fund has commended Pakistan’s strong macroeconomic performance in the context of global economic weaknesses and a difficult regional security environment. At the same time, the IMF board has also criticized the performance of power utilities — mainly their failure to reduce line losses to agreed targets, non-payment of bills in certain areas, electricity tariffs that do not cover cost, and delays in splitting Wapda into more rational units. The board has also mentioned the delay in the privatization schedule, attributing it to the regional security situation.

As expected, the IMF has granted a waiver to Pakistan’s non-fulfilment of performance targets for Wapda. The decision seems to have been dictated by non-economic factors. It is, indeed, scandalous that the managements of the two utilities should have failed year after year to curb corruption and inefficiency in their organizations. The line losses continue to be in the vicinity of 35 per cent which is perhaps among the highest in the world. Since all attempts over the last 30-35 years to improve its efficiency organization and reduce corruption have failed to yield the desired results, the only option now is to unbundle Wapda and privatize its transmission and billing operations. Wapda and the KESC continue to remain a heavy burden on the exchequer despite having made domestic electricity perhaps the costliest in the region through frequent tariff increases. This has increased the cost of input all around, making Pakistan’s exports highly uncompetitive in the world markets. Also, the drain on the budget on this account seems to have forced the government to do some corner cutting in the matter of GDP growth rate for the outgoing year in order to remain within the IMF-prescribed target of fiscal deficit of 4.6 per cent of GDP. However, if the GDP growth rate had remained at 4.5 per cent, the budgetary deficit for 2002-03 would have shot past 5.5 per cent even if the deficit in absolute terms had remained constant. So, in order to make it appear that the country had adhered to the prescribed fiscal deficit target, the GDP growth rate was raised to 5.1 per cent at the last minute by manipulating the figures of wheat production which, as it now transpires, has fallen short of the target by almost two million tons.

If giving waivers on the performance criteria of the utilities is wrong, then commending the government for achieving macroeconomic stability by manipulating growth rates and keeping a tighter leash on public sector development spending is even worse. This has resulted in low investment activity and high unemployment rates. It is time the donor and the recipient took a pause and counted the chickens before going further down on the road to ‘reform’.

Modernizing madressah education

A YEAR after the promulgation of the Madaris Ordinance 2002, federal education minister, Zubeida Jalal, has finally signed Memorandums of Understanding with the four provincial governments, the government of Azad Kashmir and the administrations of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Northern Areas. The MoUs guarantee that the provisions of the ordinance will now be applied to the madressahs operating in the country. Initially covering some 3,000 madressahs, the programme is aimed at integrating the madressah system into the mainstream education system. Another three thousand will join in the second year and 2,000 more in the third year. The government plans to appoint teachers in the enrolled madressahs who would teach modern subjects like maths, economics, English and computer science to madressah students at the secondary and higher secondary levels, so that these students can pursue higher university education or seek gainful employment in the job market after passing out of a madressah. The move will enhance livelihood opportunities for an estimated 1.5 million students currently enrolled in some 10,000 madressahs nationwide.

Implementation of the reforms proposed by the Madaris Ordinance was stalled by initial resistance from some madressahs. Now, the willingness of some 8,000 institutions to enrol for the programme comes as a welcome development. The move offers relief to many low-income families who could not afford children’s education in a public school and were forced to rely on madressahs offering free theological education. As a recent study revealed, affluent and middle-income Pakistanis contribute nearly Rs 70 billion annually in charity to the madressahs, most of which are only capable of producing preachers and pesh imams. The integration of the religious curriculum taught at the madressahs with the modern education system under the Madaris Ordinance will now enable successful madressah students to benefit from much wider employment opportunities, besides pursuing their studies for professional or higher university degrees. The registration requirement will also ensure an annual audit of the funds the madressahs receive in charity and through government grants by the education department. This was necessary and will help ensure that madressahs do not act as cover organizations for financing sectarian and militant elements and groups preaching and practising hate and violence in the name of religion.

Illegal and disgraceful

THE physical assault of a motorway police official by armed forces personnel refusing to pay a speeding ticket is shameful. It brings a very bad name to the military and is proof that some of its members seem to think that they are above the law. According to a report, a military truck belonging to the Frontier Works Organization, travelling on the Multan-Bahawalpur Highway, was pulled over by the motorway police for speeding. In the altercation that followed, the conduct of the driver of the truck and the three men riding in it was very improper. Instead of showing his licence, the driver warned the police officer against fining him because the vehicle was military-owned. A ticket of Rs 200 was nonetheless issued but the driver, goaded on by the men accompanying him in the truck, refused to pay it and created a public nuisance. When the police official reached his base after patrolling the motorway, he was beaten up by 15 men, some in army uniform, and including the three who had protested over the fine.

This episode comes on the heels of another incident in Multan, when the military men harassed a local shop after its owner chose to give evidence against junior army officers in a minor traffic violation case.

In the present case, the local SSP for the motorway police has confirmed the identity of the assailants and the matter has been brought to the attention of the army authorities. One hopes that no wire-pulling will be allowed to deflect the course of law in the matter.