PTI-led government needs to expand tax net for public relief

LAHORE: New government should focus on expanding tax base by bringing evaders and avoiders into the net if it wants to provide relief to common man.

Public will automatically get relief if sales tax rates are slashed. The electorate would be pleased if the government services are transparently and fairly provided.

Most of the inhabitants in the country need quality healthcare. Its seamless provision would be a great relief to them. They need quality education for their children much like elite gets for their kids. If the new government succeeds in achieving this it would be the greatest relief to the poor. They need smooth and uninterrupted power supply at affordable rates.

Baring decrease in sales tax the other reliefs would not require additional resources but better management and administration. The relief in electricity tariff needs better management as well as cooperation from the provincial administrations.

The previous government failed to check power theft in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh as the provincial law enforcing forces did not protect the power distribution companies’ staff from the influential power thieves when they tried to disconnect their connections. The new government would have to resolve this issue as it would be ruling the three provinces.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led (PTI) provincial government has greatly reformed the police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and it should now replicate the reformation model in Punjab and Balochistan. Reforming police would be an uphill task in Sindh where merit has largely been ignored in appointment.

The centre government would have to use tactics and power to put the Sindh police department in order. In fact, the greatest relief that electorate needs from the government is to protect them from police excesses. The PTI did that in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and reaped rich dividends from the provincial electorate.

In Punjab, the criminal records of provincial police department have also been digitalised. A criminal can be traced through thumb or finger print impressions.

Digitalisation is the answer to ensure better education and healthcare outcomes. The new government is lucky in the sense that almost entire Punjab is fully digitised, barring a couple of departments. The outgoing government could not benefit from the exercise as the systems were facing teething problems.

The new government, however, would inherit a digitalised Punjab where all government schools and district hospitals are digitally connected with the provincial capital and can be monitored 24/7. The duty status of teachers or doctors is confirmed on online real-time basis. Class rooms are digitally monitored and so are hospitals.

An individual sitting in Lahore can know about the number of beds occupied in any district hospitals, treatment that any patient is getting and the medicine staff. This model can be replicated in other provinces. In fact, Pakistan Air Force is installing similar software in their hospitals through assistance from Punjab.

Likewise, land record in Punjab has been digitised and middlemen role has been eliminated. Digitisation has facilitated fair and transparent transfer of land. Other provinces also need to adopt the same technology. All in all, digitalisation and modern infrastructure in Punjab left the new government with 44 percent of the areas in the country for tech advancement. Let us see whether the new government would benefit from the good work of previous regime or reinvent the wheel.