Betting on good governance for a better GDP

LAHORE: Good results can be achieved without following any rules, but it cannot be guaranteed as much depends on the individual who violated the rules. Pakistan, however, needs strict rule-based governance with immediate accountability of the violators.

In our country, good administration is erroneously identified with good governance. We praise Shahbaz Sharif for his better governance in Punjab that, in fact, was a relatively better administration.

Administration, based strictly on laid down rules and regulations, automatically ensures accountability. Every government employee would be a good administrator if they follow the rules.

If rules are violated, then it is not good governance even if the targets are achieved.

People violate traffic rules because the policemen look the other way. He is not bothered because he has no fear of accountability. Sometimes passports are delayed because the special passport paper is out of stock and nobody is bothered.

In good governance model this could never happen. Those who failed to inform the relevant person about the shortage of paper in time would have been prosecuted.

The manner in which Pakistan is governed would determine the economic direction of the country as passing the buck on to the poor would not work this time and the elite and vested interests would have to take the hit.

The governance bar has to be raised to a much higher level by the new ruling party’s leaders to make a meaningful impact on common man.

The parliament has so far passed nearly all the laws that are essential for good governance.

There are penalties and punishments for traffic violation, encroachment, trespassing, and even smoking in public.

There are institutions that are duty bound to ensure that these rules are obeyed. Yet we find blatant violations of rules by all, while the officials turn a blind eye to them.

Unfortunately there are no clear rules to punish the officials who overlook or allow violation of rules for personal gains. Had there been a law in this regard most of the government servants would have been punished or shown the door.

When encroachment, sewerage, and traffic violations are glaringly obvious for everyone to see then how can they escape the notice of those who are responsible to stop them?

In Pakistan rules are mostly for the weak, while the powerful enjoy lifetime immunity against all kinds of wrongdoings. That is why people like Azam Khan Swati dare to terrorise poor neighbors. Swati had to resign as federal minister for science and technology because the media reported his wrongdoing. But it is not possible to report all such violations.

Time has come when the judiciary should also give exemplary punishments to those officials who abetted Swati in this whole episode.

Rule of law and adherence to regulations are the essence of good governance and the only recipe for sustained economic growth.

If rules are followed we would not see any smoke emitting vehicles on roads. The water channels would be free of industrial and other pollutants.

The registration of property would take few hours. The permit to operate a business would be issued immediately. The dispute resolution would take few days.

It would not be possible for an employer to exploit workers. Similarly the worker would have to work honestly and improve productivity within specified time or go. All workers domestic or industrial would get minimum wage.

All this is practiced in developed world. It is very expensive to get domestic help in advance economies where even the babysitters’ hourly rates are influenced by cost of living and minimum wage laws.

Effectiveness of government, rule of law, control on corruption, and regulatory quality of the institutions deteriorate when the governance level is low.

It is no substitute for the personal vigilance, honesty, and dedication of an individual. He cannot monitor everything without proper functioning of rule-based institutions.

Punjab, for instance, delivered mainly due to vigilance of Shahbaz Sharif and not due to good governance and many lapses. Good governance can lead to reduction in income inequality and poverty.

Daniel Kaufmann, the head of Natural Resource Governance Institute, proved through statistical data that there are large and highly significant positive effects of governance on GDP.

The governance guru also said there is a negative effect of bad governance on the infant mortality and it also leads to a significant increase in the adult literacy -both of which are very high in Pakistan.