Well done, PM

Credit should be given where credit’s due. Credit goes to PM Imran Khan for ordering a probe into the wheat and sugar price rise. Credit goes to Wajid Zia, who headed the inquiry committee-in identifying the amount of the subsidy, the beneficiaries of the subsidy and the impact of exporting sugar on domestic prices. Credit goes to PM Imran Khan for making the report public.

Credit goes to PM Imran Khan for setting up a ‘Committee for power sector audit, circular debt resolution and future roadmap’. Credit goes to Muhammad Ali for identifying ‘irregularities’, ‘excess profit’ and the beneficiaries. Credit, once again, goes to PM Imran Khan for making the report public.

What is the essence of these reports? Remember Robin Hood? Legend has it that Robin Hood was a “skilled archer and swordsman” who used to take from the rich and distribute the same within the poor. The government of Pakistan is a classic Robin Hood-in-reverse in the sense that the government of Pakistan steals from the poor and distributes the same within the super-rich.

The Rs25 billion sugar subsidy came out of the taxes collected from the poor and doled out to Khusro Bakhtiar, Ch Munir, Moonis Elahi, Jahangir Tareen, Ahmed Mehmood, Waheed Ch, Idress Ch, Saeed Ch, Fatima Group, the Sharif family, Anwar Majeed and the likes (according to the Report).

The Rs5,823 billion ‘irregularities’ in the power sector were collected from the consumers of electricity and doled out to power companies owned by Mian Mansha, Nadeem Babar, Jahangir Tareen, Khusro Bakhtiar, the Sharif family and the likes (according to the Report).

To be sure, receiving subsidies is not against the law and all the trillion-rupee beneficiaries in the power sector also do things by the book. To be certain, billion-rupee ‘irregularities’ only take place as a consequence of a triangular arrangement – a politician, a bureaucrat and a businessman acting in concert with a deliberate plan to transfer wealth out of the pockets of the majority of Pakistanis and into their own.

My estimate is that Pakistan’s sugar consumers are paying around Rs50 billion a year over and above the international price of sugar. My estimate is that Pakistan’s electricity consumers are paying around Rs200 billion a year over and above the international price of electricity.

What should be done? Amazingly, at the federal level, we don’t even have ‘conflict of interest’ legislation (so conflict of interest is not against the law). As per the law of the land, the so-called ‘sugar mafia’ and the ‘power mafia’ have not done anything against the law. Where’s the flaw? It is really not about the names or the personalities involved. The flaw is in government policy. It is not about punishing the beneficiaries. It is about creating an efficient market – both in sugar and in power. It is about reforming government policy. It is about benefiting 220 million Pakistan – that’s it.

For sugar, it is not that complex. PM Imran Khan just needs to do two things: Open up import of sugar-no import duty. Open up export of sugar – no subsidy. As a consequence, Pakistanis will get the cheapest sugar and there never will be any shortage. For the power sector, Nepra, CPPA, PPIB and DISCOs all need to be reformed thoroughly-new human capital (on merit), new vision, new role, loss reduction and bill recovery.

The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad.

Email: farrukh15@hotmail.com Twitter: @saleemfarrukh