THE only hurdle that stands in the way of economic recovery and progress of Pakistan is its own self-serving and pampered elite. Consider just one aspect; the pay and pension budget. The pension budget for FY2023 is Rs530 billion. This is clearly unsustainable, and exceeds the budgeted outlay related to the total Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

While the country continues to beg for each penny and every dollar, hundreds of Pakistan government retired officials now living abroad continue to be pampered by the grant of pension in foreign exchange.

When asked to provide information on the number of such officials and the total foreign exchange spent on their pensions, the foreign ministry and the office of the Accountant-General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) hide the information by playing the standard bureaucratic game of passing the buck from one to another and back.

Sadly, even the Pakistan Information Commission hurriedly moved in to close the case, thus itself becoming the biggest hurdle in the provision of information to citizens. This is how the system works, unfortunately.

In a country like Pakistan, the highest salary, including dozens of hidden allowances and perks, of any government official must not exceed Rs400,000.

This should be the salary of the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and all other salaries across the borad need to be proportionately downsized.

Likewise, the highest pension of any government official should not exceed Rs150,000. Pensions could be reduced by a simple formula; anyone receiving a pension in excess of Rs40,000 receives a revised pension of Rs40,000 plus half of the pension that was in excess of Rs40,000, ensuring that no pension exceeds the upper limit of Rs150,000.

A few more pension-specific reforms need to be implemented, like pensions ought to be taxable just like any other income. Pension should also be denied to anyone not listed as a tax filer. What is more important is that we must stop paying pension in foreign exchange to hundreds of government pensioners living abroad.

All pensions must be limited to the pensioner and spouse, and not extended to the second generation. All such pensions should be immediately discontinued.

Besides, a one-time physical survey of pensioners should be conducted in the country to eliminate thousands of ghost pensioners.

A government of the rich, for the rich and by the rich will not carry out any serious reforms that hurt the very people who receive these benefits. To initiate such a change is perhaps the biggest challenge for all those seeking progress and betterment of Pakistan.

Naeem Sadiq
Karachi

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2023