PM vision of welfare state

Addressing a function at Kundian Prime Minister reiterated his firm commitment which he had made to the people in his maiden address after assuming office to make Pakistan a true Islamic welfare state. He said his government is fully determined to create job opportunities and provide employment to youth on merit, alleviate poverty and control inflation. This is the most challenging task to be performed by a selfless and honest leader keeping in view the mess created by the elected government of feudal oligarchy and exploitative mercantile class in the past. These classes are still in control of national resources.

History of Western democracies tells that it was the industrial revolutions that enabled their leaders to establish social welfare states, providing jobs with attractive salaries, ensuring state of the art education and health facilities and reasonable amounts of unemployment allowance for jobless people. Ironically, in Pakistan the nationalization policy of private sector industries and banks in the decade of 70s reversed the industrialisation process. It shattered the confidence of entrepreneurial class to take risk of fresh investments, retarding their initiatives for induction of new technologies and product innovations.

The governments of other two mainstream political parties pursued skewed polices and encouraged a culture of corrupt practices that further vitiated the economic environment. The energy policy of thermal power production which was implemented during 1994-95, 2008-13 and 2013-18 has further slowed down the pace of industrialisation. The Pakistan Industrial and Traders Association Front (PIAF) have asked the government to renegotiate power purchase agreement with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to reduce tariff. With authentic data PIAF chairman MianNaumanKabir, senior vice chairman NasirHameed and vice chairman JavedIqbal have explained how IPPs are earning around 40 percent profit which is more than 17 percent of the initial rate of return (IRR) agreed with them in dollars terms. The reservations of business leaders about the power tariff paid to IPPs are correct and their demand of reviewing the power purchase agreements is genuine. But perhaps government may not accept it as former President of IPPs Association and now Advisor to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar had once argued that such agreements can be negotiated once, referring to the lowering of electricity tariff by few IPPs in the unelected government of President Musharraf. In the last PML-N government, Economic Coordination Committee allowed IPPs to index the electricity tariff with the US dollar which is hitting hard all categories of consumers.

The unfavourable environment for industrialisation is also taking a heavy toll on exports despite currency depreciation of over 30 percent. The country could not reap the benefits of free trade agreements because of negligible volume of value added items in the composition of exports. Friends of Economic and Business Reforms President Kashif Anwar has complained that strict policy of imports compression; high interest rate and energy tariff have almost halted industrial production. The recent trend of negative growth in textiles and auto sector vindicates his stance.

In his address at the Convocation ceremony of NUMAL University at Mianwali, the prime Minister dwelt on the country’s potential in production of cereal crops, livestock and forestry. He said that Pakistan can become grainry of the world. The agriculture exerts have the same view but they have also been pleading for water conservation by building big, medium and small dams and putting in place infrastructure of  agriculture research. No big dam has been launched after the completion of Tarbella Dam in 1975 and Kalabagh had been made politically controversial depriving the farmers in the southern districts of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Punjab from utilizing water resources.  Pakistan will be a water starved nation if two big dams are not built on the River Indus, downstream and upstream Tarbella. Water availability for irrigating cultivable lands, which are hitherto rain-fed, better quality inexpensive seeds and fertilizers can make Pakistan grainry of the world. There is dire need of implementing long term agriculture and industrial policies if the dream of welfare state is to be made true.