Khaleeq Nazar Kiani
A few days back, amid ruckus and pandemonium, National Assembly passed the bill moved by Mr. Asad Umer, Minister for planning and special initiative, to establish the CPEC Authority. Earlier, it was created through an ordinance issued on 8 October 2019 in the Planning, Development and Reform Division under the Rules of Business 1973.
It sounds good if the opposition’s agitation was against the unnecessary legislation and unwarranted addition in the already huge size of the bureaucracy. The present Government’s rhetoric that previous governments have destroyed the PIA, Steel Mill, and other state institutions by inducting/recruiting unnecessary staff had lost the credibility when it started to establish unnecessary authorities/ organizations like CPEC Authority. This trend was a new invention of the incumbent Government to accommodate its cronies.
The housing sector was one of the victims where the Government created two new authorities (Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority, Federal Government Employees Housing Authority). At the same time, Pakistan Housing Authority Foundation registered with SECP was already working under the Ministry of Housing and Works Government of Pakistan.
CPEC was started when the western world had abandoned Pakistan. The economy was weak and crippling. The energy crisis was at its peak, and there was no money to start any mega infrastructure project.
Everybody agrees that CPEC has transformed the economic landscape of the country.
Though Balochistani people have some reservations over equitable development and there is a feeling of neglect. Besides all this, thousands of jobs were created, which resulted in an increased per capita income. The energy crisis is now over, and we have better road infrastructure than before.
As per the information available on the official web site of the CPEC, a total, sixty-eight projects in different sectors were started under CPEC, and half of them are completed or will complete in this year while the remaining are in various stages (under review, feasibility, work in progress).
What is the justification of the CPEC Authority?
When half of the projects worth billions of dollars have been completed without the existence of such an entity, then why Government felt it necessary to establish the Authority?
Some analysts have tried to justify the CPEC Authority’s legislation by dissecting and sorting out it as good and bad law, ignoring the justification of its creation.
There is nothing special, and it is as ordinary as other laws of the land.
But surprisingly, no one realized the reason or rationale behind establishing such an Authority when a full-fledged CPEC Secretariat in the Ministry for Planning, Development & Special initiative has already existed and functional.
Now, what will be the fate of the CPEC Secretariat? Will it be abolished or work parallel to the Authority?
The statement and object of the CPEC authority attached with the bill is a stereotype declaration. Surely the CPEC secretariat will already be performing the functions of monitoring, evaluation, planning, facilitating, and enforcing, which are now assigned to the CPEC Authority in the bill.
Ideally, the CPEC Authority bill should have been sent to the provinces for comments. They may object to the unilateral constitution of its board and the hiring of its employees. The deviation from the provincial quota will jeopardize its existence.
The hiring of competent professionals is not objectionable, but employing the retired individuals, who have absolutely no experience of running such organizations, is beyond comprehension. The retired persons hired in the public sector often get hefty remuneration, and in some cases, it is ten times more than their last pay.
Imagine one fine morning a gentleman retires getting the salary in six digits, and after few months, he is hired on seven-digit remuneration that too outside of his area of expertise. What type of governance is this?
There should be a rule that a retired person cannot get more than his last pay. It is unjust and tantamount to usurp the right of talented young persons. There should be a policy for hiring/induction of retired/serving persons from other institutions and should be a matter of consideration in civil service reforms. It has been observed that the inductees/nominees from other services have ruined the public sector governance. They were always a bad performer.
