Tackling rural poverty

THE Asian Development Bank country director, Marshuk Ali Shah, has expressed grave concern over what he called the worsening poverty situation in Pakistan. According to ADB’s senior economic adviser, 36 per cent of the population in this country now lives below the poverty line. The two were addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Friday while launching the Bank’s latest report on Pakistan’s economy. Mr Shah has very rightly advised the government to invest more in health, education, human development and women to improve the lot of the poor. He has promised to increase ADB’s aid to more than a billion dollars over the next three years if the government adhered to the structural reform agenda as agreed with the IMF. Going by what he said on the matter of subsidies, it appears that his promise of increased ADB aid as well as the Bank’s assistance for reforms in other sectors like trade, industry, capital market and the judiciary was conditional on withdrawal of subsidies on fertilizer, agricultural inputs, irrigation equipment and on termination of what he called undeserved tax exemptions given to various industries. He believes that the agriculture-related subsidies were enriching the landed gentry rather than the small farmers. In his opinion, market forces should be left free to determine the prices of various agricultural inputs. He has also pleaded for urgent privatization of Wapda and the KESC as the latter alone was losing two billion rupees a month which is an unnecessary burden on the taxpayers. Finally, Mr Shah has warned of serious consequences if the government buckled under pressure and reintroduced concessions and financial incentives to various sectors as, according to him, Pakistan’s economic recovery was still fragile.

One can hardly disagree with the ADB country director’s assessment about the nature of Pakistan’s economic recovery. He is also very right when he says that Pakistan would face serious consequences if it returned to the old practice of pampering the rent seekers with incentives and concessions. But then, the prescription he is offering to Pakistan for more vigorous recovery and which is not very different from what the IMF has been pressing us to do all these three years has the potential to deepen and widen poverty rather than containing it. The argument that agriculture-related subsidies benefit the landed gentry is true to a great extent. But then this is happening because a small number of persons hold very large tracts of farmland while the majority possesses much smaller holdings. If proper land reforms are introduced, the objection against subsidies would logically disappear. Then there is the issue of letting the market forces determine the prices of agricultural products. If this happens, then considering the massive subsidies that farmers of rich countries still enjoy despite the WTO, Pakistan’s farm sector would be virtually wiped out of even the domestic market because cheaper imports would then determine the local prices as well.

All in all, there is no escape from land reforms if the objective of poverty alleviation is to be realised. No matter what strategies are followed to improve the lot of the poor, as long as the rural poor do not possess sufficient land, he is hardly likely to get out of the poverty trap. Besides, unless basic food is made available to all and sundry in the country at affordable prices, there can hardly be any upward mobility from the category of ‘have-nots’ to ‘haves’. These are valid considerations in favour of retention of an appropriate level of subsidies and concessions for the country’s farm sector.

Curbing water theft

THAT Karachi’s water and sewerage (W&S) department should choose to ignore the existence of dozens of illegal water connections at a time when the city is experiencing a severe shortage is extremely worrying. In fact, it is the department itself which has come up with the list of around 140 illegal connections, but for some inexplicable reason it has chosen not to take action against this illegal activity. Those who are indulging in this wholesale theft of water include several police stations and police lines, the Rangers headquarters and officers’ mess, a block of army flats and several hotels. It is unfortunate that those entrusted with enforcing the law have chosen to violate it so blatantly, especially at a time when Karachiites are taking to the streets regularly to press the authorities to supply them with water. It is quite ironic that the Rangers, who have been given the task of monitoring the distribution of water by tankers all over the city, themselves have opted for illegal connections.

The conduct of the W&S department is even more inexcusable because it has been issuing harsh warnings that anyone caught with an illegal water connection in their home would be immediately charged and handed over to the police. Now that a list already exists with the department, there should be no excuse not to take action. Also, part of the reason for the water shortage is that these illegal connections siphon away water directly from the main line. To make matters worse the W&S department has issued notices to apartment residents in some city areas asking for payment of water charges despite the fact that the buildings do not even have a connection to the main line. The Sindh government should take immediate action against the operators of these illegal connections, especially the law-enforcement agencies. This action may not end the ongoing water shortage but will at least set a good example.

Pemra’s skewed priorities

AT a recent high-level meeting between cable operators and representatives of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), both sides reached an agreement to settle outstanding issues between them amicably. The cable operators were assured that any violent attacks against cable providers would be dealt with promptly and seriously. The regulatory body also told them that the operators’ demand that some of Pemra’s charges be lowered would be looked into. For their part, the cable providers pledged to provide good service and abide by the terms of their licensing agreement. Pemra also reiterated its pledge that it would not allow “vulgar or objectionable programmes” to be shown through cable.

One wonders where all of this leaves the many millions of subscribers who watch and pay for cable TV? Consumer bodies are practically non-existent in this country and hence the meeting between Pemra and the cable operators did not include any consumer representatives. For some reason, Pemra seems to be preoccupied with the issue of preventing cable operators from showing “objectionable programmes”. Trying to combat the transmission of obscene or vulgar programmes should not be the concern of Pemra and should be dealt with according to the law by the relevant official agencies. In any case, it is not as if X-rated channels are being shown by cable operators. Rather than appointing itself as the nation’s moral guardian, Pemra should concern itself with its primary function, which is to ensure that the quality of service provided by cable operators is good and reliable. Complaints of shoddy service, poor reception, and in many cases no service at all are far too common and point to the fact that the Pemra and its regional offices in the provinces are not doing enough to deter cable operators from providing shoddy service to their customers.