Budget, no good news for the poor

Head of PPP Media Cell
Federal finance budget known as finance bill in legislative lexicon is neither here nor there because the budget speech of the finance minister consisted of more platitudes and less substance for the common man. This is the general perception. It was formulated on the basis of growth development strategy implying that economic development was an end in itself that would look after the social aspect eventually. Economic development without meeting the narrative of social justice is rotten development and hence not sustainable and therefore should not be pursued.
The step motherly treatment meted out to education, health and to the provision of clean drinking water speaks itself as how much the government considered these sectors in its development strategy. The government will put forward the argument that these are the domains of the provincial governments after the 18th Amendment and therefore do not merit its attention. Federal government cannot absolve it of the responsibility because it is quite capable to assert itself and convince the respective governments to provide these facilities to fulfill the purpose of the constitution. The provision of the basic facilities like education, health, sustainable subsistence to the citizens is the responsibility of the state as being their fundamental rights.
The Federal Budget 2015-16 quintessentially is for “the haves and not for the have-nots” as put by the opposition leader Syed Khursheed Shah because it generally offers incentives to the industrialists and the manufacturers. The finance minister has proved miser to the extent of even not dropping a crumb for the poor and the less privileged segments of the society. The increase in the budget allocations for the President House and the Prime Minister House explodes in the face of the austerity measures that the PML-N leadership so loudly projected before assuming the reign of power. The increase in the pays of the non-gazetted government servants, on the contrary, will not offset the overall impact of inflation they are subjected to. The pensioners will face the full brunt of the so-called increase as they solely depend on their meager pensions and therefore deserve sympathetic and favourable consideration of the minister for finance.
The civil servants who are in active service are entitled to lucrative perks and privileges and as such are not in the dire need of too little really. In this context, officers of grade 20 and above are already drawing hefty salaries through the “monetisation policy” of the government and the latest raise will be inconsequential to them, in particular.
The allocations for the Bhasha Diamer Dam Rs12 billion and Rs50 billion for Dassu Dams deserves appreciations for those who must have worked very hard to rally around the Planning and development Division and the Finance Ministry by articulating the criticality for meeting the energy requirements of the country at affordable rates, and also to meet the ever increasing irrigation requirements of the country to make it self-sufficient in food production on permanent basis. With the completion of these two multi-purposes projects, the country can serve as the food basket for the Middle East, Central Asian Republics and beyond by bringing millions of acres of barren land under cultivation. The availability of inexpensive electricity through these dams will enable our industrial sector to compete the competitors in the international market with ease and success. The overall impact can lead the country to save billions of dollars by not importing the furnace oil to produce expensive electricity. The job creations of tens of thousands directly and millions indirectly will change the poverty stricken face of the country into an affluent, prosperous and contended one. It will not be a bit of exaggeration that the completion of these dams will be like dream come true of a prosperous and stronger Pakistan in the real sense.
Pakistan deserts will turn into green pastures feeding millions of humans and their livestock, coastal line will boom with hustle and bustle reflecting living standards of the people, illuminated hilly terrains will present the sight of Swiss Alpse, fertile land of Punjab will produce bumper crops to feed the country men and the hunger stricken people around the world. Pakistan will emerge as a deliverer than at the receiving end it is at present unfortunately.
Revenue collections of the government have not yielded the desired results because the target fixed could not be realised and the justification offered by the authorities are hardly plausible. The resource mobilisation is critical to get the country out of the financial crunch, and also to allocate funds to execute development projects dedicated to the welfare of the people. It is well known that FBR has the data of three millions people who could be safely brought in the tax net but the political leadership’s inaction in this regard amply manifest either it is incapable of taking action or it is scared of the powerful lobby or trivial political considerations or expediencies have nudged it to take the backseat.
This ambivalence or reluctance of the mandarins is piling up miseries for the poor people because they have to face the major brunt of indirect taxation as the upper class conveniently passes it on to the end consumers. Our heads hangs in shame as we are at the tail end among the South Asian countries so far as the Tax- GDP ratio is concerned. In India, it is 17%, and in Pakistan only 9%. Ironically, the government instead of focusing on revenue generation endeavours, it has been rewarding the big industrialists by granting billions of rupees exemptions in custom duties during the current financial year. Now the FBR has been stripped off the powers, according to finance minister, to withdraw the SRO’s. Parliament has been vested with this power that will bring much needed transparency to weed out corruption.
The increase in Defence budget about 11% will not raise the eye brows of the boggy that opposes Pakistan as a garrison state simply because now national priority is defeating the scourge of terrorism and extremism as it poses a formidable threat to the survival of the country. Many will side with those who stand for massive increase in allocations for social sector if the country is not in a state of war. People will not oppose even if more funds are provided to the army in case the exigency demands so because the nation is committed to implement the National Action Plan (NAP). The political analysts are right in criticising the slackness of the government in the implementation of the NAP as the proscribed organizations have been flouting the law with impunity and the state and its institutions are looking helpless by not taking any action to stop them.
Interior minister is on record as having said that only 10% seminaries were involved in anti-state activities. The immediate question that arises in the mind is as why the government has not taken any action against those ten per cent seminaries yet. The answer is, none whatsoever. The NAP is clear and enjoys the ownership of all political parties of the country but sadly the government is either confused or lacks the political will to apprehend non-state actors and their sympathisers. In both cases, the prognoses are not good. The government has to take courageous decisions to implement the NAP as we cannot afford to see the other way. The cosmetic measures will not yield desired results.
The boasting of the finance minister of all times high reserves of more than 18 billion dollars is no matter of pride or achievement because these have been accumulated through borrowings on much higher interest rates. The short-term stability in the economy attained through borrowed money is not sustainable and therefore is not an asset and will prove as a liability by holding back the growth of the country. The decline in Pakistani exports as compared to the last year is depressing news given by the finance minister in his budget speech.
It may be relevant to mention here that the decline in exports was not expected as the GSP plus facility of the European Union is available to this government. In PPP previous government, the exports were more than 25 billion dollars despite the fact that there was no such facility available during its watch. The GDP growth also missed the targets, revenue generation met the same ill-fate, and agriculture sector is no exception either.
The farmers of Punjab have been on the roads protesting the anti-farmers policies of the PML-N government. However, the redeeming feature in the budget speech is interest free loans to the farmers for solar tube wells whose land holding is 12.5 acres or less. It is a good decision that will doubly benefit the farmers because they would get uninterrupted power supply to pump out water for irrigation and also save them from the hefty electricity bills. It will also save electricity for the national grid to put to use for other pressing needs of the country.
It will be unfair if Benazir Income Support Programme is not mentioned which was started during PPP previous government as a social security programme meant for the poorest of the poor. The budget speech of the finance minister announced amid round of applause, as PPP lawmakers were taken aback, when he announced that Rs102 billion are being allocated in the new budget for BISP. The government should ensure that the money is delivered to about five million families each month regularly. There are complaints that the poor families did not get money even after lapse of many months. The government must evolve a framework to ensure the timely delivery of money each month to the families because it makes difference for them between hunger and starvation.
muhammadshaheedi@yahoo.com