People deserve better

LAHORE: Imagine a company that is unable to take decisions because of the refusal of the chairman of its board of directors to ratify the appointment of the company's chief executive officer for a few weeks. The company becomes a rudderless ship.

When key posts are not filled, the company would not be able to make key decisions. It could be left out of competition. Employees would be jittery!

But this is a hypothetical scenario. It never happens in the private sector as there are rules to overcome such scenarios. The chairman could be replaced by a simple majority of the board of directors. The decision of the board must be accepted.

Unfortunately, this country is being operated like a rudderless ship. This is particularly true for Punjab, where practically there is no government.

This is because the constitutional provisions are not as clear as those in the private sector. Bureaucracy is at a loss as to whom to obey.

The economy of the country is already in a disarray. Uncertainty is taxing the poor more than the rich. Load shedding is at its peak. Price control in the fasting month has vanished. Even the courts are helpless. Court orders are not accepted by those enjoying constitutional immunity.

There are numerous matters that need urgent attention. There is a shortage of fuel for the power sector. This shows that there was no planning to cope with this issue.

Everything in the past was operating on an ad hoc basis. If you do not have money to fulfill the consumptive needs of the rulers then borrow relentlessly.

If you lack resources to procure fuel then let the poor consumers bear the brunt of load shedding.

Never before the consumers were subjected to load shedding during the fasting month. It was because the government of the day made prior planning to ensure a load shedding free Ramazan.

The deposed government made no planning and the brunt of arranging fuel has fallen on the new government that is hardly three weeks old. It takes four to six weeks to import the required fuels. It is a pity that the consumers are suffering because of the feud between politicians.

Our manufacturing sector is suffering and when manufacturing halts for a day or more, all the daily wage workers are disengaged. This is brutal at a time when the Eid festival is hardly a week away. We may see shortages of many items on Eid. Production would go in top gear when the power plants are fully operative after Eid.

Agriculture sector is suffering more. Harvesters operate on diesel which is in short supply. The wheat harvesting season is on. Only harvesters could harvest the wheat quickly.

Manual labour is not available in required strength because after the induction of harvesters, farm labour shifted to cities to work in factories and markets.

Farmers want to secure their crops as early as possible. You never know when a dust storm or sudden rain would damage the harvested crop.

We are all Pakistanis first and our first loyalty is towards our country and not towards any political party. People of Pakistan deserve much better than they are being dealt with.