Are planners getting ready to reward incompetence again?

LAHORE: The government lacks the political will to act on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) sane advice about freezing non-development expenses, including salaries of civil servants and armed force. It should in fact also plug various wastages such as power/ gas inefficiencies and theft.

It is worth noting that when the government was finding it hard to fund the pandemic-related expenses, the baboos leaked reports that salaries and pensions would be increased in the next budget by 20 percent.

In Pakistan, as in all other countries of the world, those in government employment have been able to retain their jobs. The jobs in private sector have vanished speedily even in developed economies.

In Pakistan, the job market was already under immense pressure before the pandemic struck and by some estimates about 2 million workers have lost their jobs in the past 21 months, including one million jobs lost during the pandemic.

Moreover, the private sector has also slashed salaries by 20-40 percent in many sectors. Even at lower salaries, the retained workers feel themselves lucky to survive the firing.

Normal annual increments have also been suspended, while special increments are out of question.

In the last 11 months, inflation hit the private sector badly. However, it has doubly hit those who have no job.

Still the economic circumstances are such that the private sector workers are content with whatever they are getting. One fails to understand why public servants should be an exception in this regard.

Government salaries from grade 1-22 are much higher than the average salaries given by the private sector. In the documented sector, almost 85 percent of factory workers get the government announced minimum salary, or if they are lucky, a wage above the official minimum rate.

Around 10 percent at supervisory level get up to three times that amount. Around five percent higher or mid-level executives take home higher salaries in six or seven figures.

Around 50 percent of the documented sector (by government standards) gives almost half the minimum wage to their factory workers and lower level office staff, and those who are paid above Rs50,000 can be counted on fingertips.

The non-documented sector fully exploits its workforce that mostly operates in inhuman conditions at much lower than minimum wage. They have no rights and are forced to work overtime without any compensation.

They do not earn enough to afford two square meals for their family. This is the reason that almost all members of such poor families, including children work hard to cumulatively earn an amount equivalent to minimum salary or a little higher.

They are never compensated for inflation. They dare not protest because their jobs are not protected. They could be easily replaced by thousands of unemployed poor workers.

The state through its public servants is required to protect the rights of all these workers. The plight of the majority of the private sector workforce reveals that these government servants are not performing their duties according to their mandate.

They are incompetent, careless or corrupt. Whatever their reason is they are not delivering.

Why should the ministries and departments looking after the labour welfare be entitled to any special increments when they have failed to perform their duties?

In the same way, if we look at the distribution losses in the power sector and the level of inefficiencies in the power distribution companies, we will find that the loss that state suffers from their corrupt practices and inefficiencies is more than the cumulative salaries that all the employees of the power sector draws.

Should not they be penalised for the losses that they cause to the exchequer? What makes economic planners think that they deserve special annual increments (any increment above that each employee is entitled in his/her scale is a special increment)?

What about the poor consumers who bear the brunt of their inefficiencies through high power tariffs? Same goes for the employees of petroleum and power ministries that regulate power and gas sectors.

No one disputes the incompetence and corruption in the Federal Board of Revenue. Keeping in view their incompetence, the planners assign them revenue targets that are much below the tax potential of the country.

The FBR itself is sitting on a data mine that has the potential to double the tax revenue if prudent and dedicated actions are taken to recover tax liabilities from tax evaders. Leaving this aside, the FBR almost always fails to achieve the revenue target.

Does this incompetence entitle them to a special salary raise of 20 percent? Should not they be made accountable for increasing the miseries of masses by letting off smugglers and other tax evaders?

However, these facts would look emotional to the economic planners and they would probably go ahead with a special salary raise for non-delivery of services.