KARACHI, Oct 15: Businessmen have started receiving pressures from the elected legislators to give employment and accommodate their recommended persons in their business concerns.

“I have received polite requests from three members of National and Sindh assemblies from Karachi to accommodate their recommended persons in my factory,” a well established textile businessman confided to Dawn with a request that his name and those of three legislators should not be disclosed.

Another businessman confided that a top politician wants a few of his recommended persons to be given jobs in his factory in NWFP. An elected member of Sindh Assembly from Karachi spoke of the pressures he is facing from his many voters to get them, their sons and brothers a job ‘anywhere’. “On the very first day, after elections on Friday, I was handed over 72 job applications by those who came to congratulate me after Juma prayers,” he disclosed.

With poverty on the rise, expected to be more than 32 per cent after, showing a ratio of 28.2 per cent in 1998-99 (according to Economic Survey 2001-02), and unemployment ratio running in double digit, the impatience of voters with their elected members of the assemblies and the legislators having no option but to pressurize their businessmen friends is understandable. An updated study on poverty carried out by the Federal Bureau of Statistics remains a classified document till this day for want of ‘technical correction’.

Six businessmen, who were approached by Dawn on Monday and Tuesday to talk on emerging business environment in the country after recent elections with specific reference to the mounting unemployment problem, refused straight away to offer ‘on the record comments’ for obvious reasons. Two of them are leading textile manufacturers and exporters, one is a global commodity operator, one is in engineering goods business and two are traders. But they agreed to share ‘loud thinking’ on the issue and two of them confided that businessmen have started receiving pressures from the elected members of the assemblies. Party discipline forbids the only member of Sindh Assembly to offer comments to press without prior permission of his organization.

All these six businessmen and the only member of the assembly agree that the next elected governments, at the federal and provincial levels, are bound to come under pressure, from day one, of growing unemployment and rising poverty in the country.

“Politicians may be corrupt and inefficient but are not heartless,” the legislator remarked in a bitter tone, stating that unemployment and poverty issue had assumed alarming proportions in the country because in last three years ‘heartless’ bankers, technocrats, business professionals and the serving and retired army officers ruled the country. “They remained totally oblivious of the sufferings of the common man,” he pointed out.

He was of the firm view that next elected government would not be able to stay aloof of the mounting pressure of poverty and unemployment. “The government will have to come out with some short term crash programme,” he said. In his view the Khushhal Pakistan and Khushhal Bank schemes have only cosmetic significance. “Something more needs to be done,” he said.

Businessmen, too, seem to agree with the assembly member’s perception and hold military set-up responsible for keeping industrial growth on low priority and focussing entirely on revenue generation.

“At the end of the day the population has outgrown national economy and hence the rise in poverty and unemployment to alarming levels,” a businessman remarked, who held government’s taxation policy in last three years, the single factor that has crippled industry and agriculture, shrunk market and created an army of unemployed youth in the country.

“What’s the justification of imposing a sales tax of 15 to 18 per cent on fertilizer, agricultural inputs, edible oil and ghee and other food items,” he said, while pointing out that refund mechanism has been drawn up in such a way that “it promotes corruption.”

Now there is a new class of businessmen, who draw up fake invoices and earn billions repeat billions of rupees with the active connivance of the tax collectors. The victims of this vicious sales tax system are the genuine businessmen and the consumers.

A development surcharge on oil and gas has become the most convenient tool of revenue generation for all the governments in the last ten years. It has a direct and indirect inflationary impact. The utilities are showing no sign of let-up in their tariff. The production cost has been pushed up both in the industry and agriculture.

“Tell me who gained by increasing import duty on tea during 2001-02 fiscal,” he recalled making it clear that it was done to benefit a certain class of favourites. This duty rate on tea import has been reduced this fiscal year but still provides opportunities to the adventurers. Those who suffer are genuine tea blenders and consumers. Tea is virtually a staple food in NWFP and Balochistan from where MMA has returned in big majority.

Businessmen are certain that the parliament will have to give a hard look at the current taxation system and on the whole budget.

If international market is in grip of recession then the alternative is to take steps to enlarge domestic market and develop linkages with regional markets in South Asia, ASEAN, ECO and Middle East.

The prescription is to cut down taxes, reduce establishment expenditure in the budget, increase development expenditure, lower the production cost in industry and agriculture. If this needs hard political decisions in domestic and foreign affairs “go ahead”.