Cut the fat

The government seems determined to come heavy on non-filers. The finance minister has warned that the concept of non-filers will be done away with. While the heydays of the non-filers are over and they run helter-skelter to devise ways to circumvent the new rules, the filers sit smug.

However, filers too nurture a grouse. They lament that their hard-earned money going in taxes is squandered on perpetually loss-making behemoths and unproductive pursuits.

For instance, injecting billions of tax money into the perennial loss-makers, the toppers being PIA, the Pakistan Steel Mills and the Railways, to keep them afloat is a reason of discontent among the taxpayers. PIA and the Railways are more visible because of their mobility while the PSM is static. PIA and PSM together dented the national exchequer Rs552 billion in the last ten years. Even though the PSM stopped operating in 2015, its executives and work force have been receiving salaries amounting to Rs380 million every month.

However, PIA tops the list of newsmakers in the public sector. The organisation is overstaffed. It employs a work force of about 18,000 for its nearly 25 planes in operation and some grounded for major repairs. Thus, PIA’s manpower ratio per plane comes to about 700, which is one of the highest in the world. In comparison, the Emirates’ plane-to-employee ratio stands at 220 per plane. Singapore Airlines’ has 140 per plane for its 100 aircraft but Lufthansa tops in efficiency. It employs 127 persons per plane for its 299 aircraft. What a stark comparison between efficient and inefficient manpower and those who manage it.

To top it, PIA counsel recently pleaded in the Supreme Court to allow new recruitment in the airline that the court had banned on March 31, 2018. Maybe the PIA management believes that if ten workers could accomplish a job in an hour, hundred workers could do it in six minutes.

Why are more eyes focused on PIA’s performance than, let’s say, on the Railways whose engines or bogies often get derailed? Nevertheless, the malady of overstaffing afflicts almost all government departments. Many government departments have more staff at every level than required. Ordinary taxpayers are not aware of the various organs of the bureaucracy. Characteristically, the bureaucracy always expands and never retrenches itself. Visit any of the civil secretariats and you’re lost in their labyrinth.

Recently there was a proposal to have seven additional chief secretaries in Punjab to look after various departments. Now, the additional chief secretary is a senior rank. One ACS will have deputy secretaries, assistant secretaries, section officers and clerical staff under him, which will add more layers to the bureaucratic setup and its financial burden would be borne by the taxpayers. The problem is that when bureaucrats frame rules for their own cadre, they ensure all perks and privileges for their colleagues. Already, it’s not comforting for taxpayers to observe bureaucrats and other government functionaries whiz pass in flashy new luxury cars.

Clearly, the federal and provincial departments are overstaffed and need pruning. Every government coming to power laments that people don’t pay taxes but it should also realise the financial burden the bureaucratic juggernaut exerts on the narrow tax base. While we need to enhance the tax base, we also need to slash the bureaucratic fat and say goodbye to loss-making white elephants. Why not start with PIA and the Pakistan Steel Mills?

The writer is a freelance columnist based in Lahore.

Email: pinecity@gmail.com