Last week we had discussed the neoliberals and the free markets and we had come to the conclusion that there were no free markets and the failures were not only of serious consequences, but also not well-listed. Today one is going to consider the neoliberals, consideration of the failure of the political system and how the bureaucratic system plays havoc with good governance. Is the bureaucracy then technically incompetent?
Do the developing countries have the political system to counter the incompetence of bureaucracy? Are the goals imposed by the political system unattainable? Is the bureaucracy irrational or is the political system irrational? What are the natures of the interest groups that manifest themselves in this kind of social milieu? The effect of these social systems differ with the culture of the locals. The Balochistan social system is different in terms of Tribal chiefs the vast majority. So is the case with KPK and so is the waderas case in Sindh. Punjab has its own kind of baradari system based on the castes. It is now almost legendary that we used to count which political minister is going to show favours to what kind.
The development projects suffered the most as what was conceptualised at a different level of thinking ended up in the pits of the world. The technical competence of the bureaucracy had nothing to do with the success or otherwise of the project. I can count a number of projects that went begging because of the wilful nature of the cost/benefit analysis that was made. Instead of the tool used for a better planning process that IRR and the ERR was made up of figures that were massaged; massaged to the extent that there was nothing but ghost figures.
The technicality of the technical bureaucrat had nothing to do with this. It was sheer corruption of the mental type that supported the planning process. Figures were fudged and in one case of small dams construction-that was to be for the poor and the small farmers the C/B was actually geared to a cropping pattern that did not exist. No one had bothered to stuff the terrain and the cropping pattern. This was a mega-structure institution dealing with water and power. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that the corrupt practices were and are at the highest level. Had these been honest mistakes these would have been correctable. The entire game was vitiated by the stubbornness and the governance issues.
The Planning process played the game with these people. In fact, the corruption starts there and the buck also ends there. For they have collected a lot of dead wood in the system that is looking for extensions in service beyond the age of retirement and are sitting in office doing nothing. Hocus-pocus government is no better than non-governance. The economic impact of all this may be summarised by an analysis of the Bhasha Dam. It is supposed to cost $12 billion. Will it? Any one taking a bet with me that it will not be completed in that cost and in the time envisaged? You place the odds and the kind of bet you want to make. If we take the cost as stated then the debt would be something like $75 billion. How will you suffer the consequences of the interest payments and the actual amount? Any one? Maybe the loudest one on the TV should take me on.
Let us then look at one of the Dams that these servile technical engineers tried to build for the great Ayub Khan. It was supposed to have been built for 80 million rupees and in one year. That was the year of my lord 1968. By 1996 when I found myself in the planning commission I found out that the project had already cost 500 times and the project was still not complete. Come to agriculture and the picture is not so nice either? Projects after projects were demolished for decency and fairness and they kept on filling the coffers of the powers in the political system and Shaukat Aziz and company devised instruments for corrupt practices by the bureaucracy.
The hundi system was played to ensure that the money chain was not locatable. At the change of one project leader one received a telephone call from Birmingham UK, stating that the project leader was transferred and the terms of another for appointment were as follows. Such was the electrifying nature of news that it encompassed the world within two hours of the announcement.
Do the neo-classics then advocate the rural silent majority? Have they been fair to the rural areas? Is the vast majority that lives there still living life as humans or have they become slaves and half-humans. Come with me and I will show you what the neo-classics have suggested and what their goons have implemented in Pakistan. How they were responsible for the debacle in former East Pakistan? I was there. The amputation was without any anesthesia. By God and before god it was painful. In helping the poor sods in the rural areas what they have done is got them expensive inorganic fertiliser from the west and dumped them on the poor farmers.
How can they afford a 17000 rupees stint per acre and given that the agronomic practices under which they operate thanks to the agriculture universities does not provide them even with getting their investment back. No markets were allowed to be developed and the colonial system was allowed to work mutatis mutandis. The comparative advantage was lost when the cost of production goes sky high. Of late there has been a tendency to get USA and UK based companies to come in and the subsidy would be provided to them from the Pakistani budget. Why? Why USA companies should be allowed to spy in the rural areas and carryout subversive activities. Have we not had enough of that in the urban areas? Forgetting Raymond Davis, are we?
The reality is that the neoliberal policies use only words without any substance. It makes for good drawing room reading but not good for actual practice. Life is in experience and what one gets out of them not in theories articulated by those who know nothing of the culture of the developing countries. Political correctness is boosted and boasted by adding that these policies are popular. There is no one in the system to check on how this could be done. Before this comes to an end, one last policy issue that they play is the depoliticization that is possible by these policies? Try me another and let us see how this can be done in this country?
These policies are nothing but ... the whole system stinks. The educated who have not done any adaptation to what they have learnt in the west are defunct economists. They are no experts - not even pseudo experts. The argument will continue. One would rather be of one's own country rather than be a tout of another. Take good care. Everything is up for reason except the politician and the bureaucrat. Want me to name a few here and there from either class.