The inefficiency of the economic systems is dependent on the ethical values that are brought to bear on the entrepreneurial systems. Unless these systems work to the advantage of the common man there will be always monopoly powers to contend with. Once a social system is put in place it is almost impossible to render it benign and non-malignant.
The other day there was a trade-related seminar in Karachi and our friends from across the border were here. I recognised a senior colleague whose PhD was supervised by a professor from Boston University. He had advocated, during the time of Ayub, that all Pakistan needed were 100 robber barons to develop. In developing those 100 robber barons, Pakistan had barely got to 22 when there was a hue and cry that these 22 had 87% of the assets of this country. Cheating and lies were held out to be in order.
The cost of this was ridiculously high. Inefficiency is generally given the name of, in the industry, of incentives. What incentives will you give to entrepreneurs who have perverted the concept of risk? My own seminal study indicated that there was no risk or uncertainty in the industry in Pakistan. The so-called entrepreneur had not made a single rupees investment as all of it came through over-invoicing of machinery. Soon, the burden on economy was such that there was a collapse of the economic systems. It was Shaheed ZAB who managed us out of the morass that was there for all to see.
Cheating is one aspect that these economies can no longer bear. The other aspect is the corruption that is rampant. Reflect for a moment the industry versus agriculture argument when it comes to taxation. Agriculture argues that the indirect taxation that it has to pay is enough. Agriculturists do not make another point. That has to do with the conveniences that policymakers keep on adding to their repertoire. There is much that is wrong in the agriculture system.
That flows from the corrupt practices of the powerful. Have we been able to get rid of the feudal system that the British put into place to forever torment the nation by the inequitable policies due to these feudals? Why not get rid of them through sensible economic policies? It is possible to do that. What has happened over time is that the powerful feudal has joined hands with the new powerful landed gentry [?]. These days the landed gentry [?] have joined hands in the rural areas with the utility services. Shortage of electricity has been touted around.
The industry is crying itself hoarse. Citizens are trying to keep up with the rising bills. The agriculture's powerful have been robbing electricity for years. I was in the rural areas the other day. What did I find? Tubewells linked to massively powerful motors and a delivery system of nearly 10 inches and a depth of 150 feet from where that water is to be recovered for irrigation. That is massive electricity and not being paid for as the tubewell connection lines are directly linked to the main lines. No electricity can be given free to a coterie of individuals no matter what their status is. The cost of all this cheating falls on the poor electricity users of this country. Those who are enjoying free benefits are also public representatives and free looters of the system.
The defunct regime of Musharraf for almost a decade left a legacy of slave mentality and total dedication to a slave mentality. Vassals of the power bloc and these are again active making all kinds of statements. The army's addendum institutions are where they are to be found. I said at that time that NUST was over endowed at the cost of the nation by cheap land allocations that were more in line with ego and get whatever you can and at the cheapest cost. The CDA has finally woken up to the realities.
They want their land back. The power bloc does that to keep its hooligans in jobs. That is what happened during Zia's regime when the Polytechnic Institute on Peshawar Road was taken away by the army without any compensation. It is now an engineering college for army recruits. The promise of creating another polytechnic for the youth of this country came to nothing, promises made and forgotten.
Where assets are taken away at will, the mafia will be in action. One of the cultural issues that the Musharraf government never addressed was if the regular district administrative structure was done away with, how will governance be affected? The doing away with the checks of the district magistrate on the police has had its effect. Independence calls for a different kind of social censorship and calls for a culture of self-denial. How many police officers have been sent to jail since those days? The committee under General M. Haider considered only that the police should not be subservient to anyone, if not to the administrative structure then to the will of the people. Is our social system that developed?
All these structural issues make the economic substance arthritic. What is the cost of inefficiency? Shall I tell you the cost of the non-performing research system in agriculture? I shall do so and compute it for my quantitative friends, the scrooges that we have in the system. I had warned of the consequences of bureaucratic inefficiency. What about the inefficiency of the political system? What about the inefficiency of the tyrannical system?
Has anyone ever tried to evaluate the consequences of a command and control structure trying its hand at decentralised governance? The stooges of that era are still around and they are playing havoc with the system for all that they had learnt was how to be servile and a slave and enjoy the consequences of power. The civil government has not been able to identify these people and therefore they keep on enjoying the benefits of the system.
Pakistan's governance has to be divided into segments. It is impossible to govern in macro terms. There has to be economic governance, social governance and so on. Then the governance factors have to take into consideration, cultural aspects. Balochistan cannot be governed from the center and now it cannot be governed from Quetta either.
It has important ramifications for the federation. The tribes messing up over the years have to be addressed. Each tribe has its own basics to be seen and used for the benefits of the federation. The KP would be different. The 'kaminas' of central Punjab have to be considered as the ones that have brought Pakistan a bad name. Go to former East Pakistan the Punjabi could not even walk the streets without being abused. Brash and arrogant he siphons off many assets. The current corruption debate is an important one and one will find all kinds of corrupt practices.
New options have to be exercised and in many ways the current debate is barren and induced by what is happening in India. That is another country and despite centuries of living together they have developed a culture that is different from ours. Have you got any one who will go on hunger strike for the sake of the people? So do not try to copy for that will not pay any dividends. In Pakistan humility is not an option. Try any minister, try any secretary, try any police station and in fact try any institution. Try even a social call.
Want to be slapped around. Your legacy is what you make of it. Your social systems are what you make of them. The lying and thieving in Pakistan has gone so far that the courts will have to sooner or later take the brunt of cleansing the system. There cannot be any solution to any act of omission or commission. Theirs is a tough job.
The higher one goes, the stronger has to be the self-censorship system. Can you perform for the common man with arthritic pain? If your limbs [institutions] are not working can you do the needful for the people of Pakistan. What is yours and mine identity? Guess, are you bigger than the institution and the country. The time has come to redefine corruption in all places. Next time.