Monday on October 31, 2022, Chandrasakeran, the Chairman of Tata Sons of India, announced the following:
“It is truly a historic day. Today we mark the beginning of full-scale aircraft manufacturing in India by the private sector. The aircraft that we will manufacture will be done by the Tata Advanced System, a Tata Group company and will make 40 such aircrafts out of the total order of 56 here in Gujarat. The aircraft manufacturing program will see Airbus bring its complete bouquet of aircraft manufacturing and servicing to India in collaboration with Tata Group. In all, it will produce at least 15,000 skilled jobs. There is also a very substantial global demand, and I definitely see exports being another big opportunity….”
As a part of the community of people from SAARC and subcontinent we must congratulate the Indian private sector for this remarkable achievement.
During the days of Covid pandemic we also realised that the biggest vaccine manufacturing facility in the world is located in Pune, India, and this facility, too, is also owned by the private sector. We all know aircraft manufacturing is the major value-added technological industry in the world.
We were part of the society and economics of the subcontinent for centuries till 1947. Up-till 1947 the areas that now form Pakistan were relatively richer and prosperous than other parts of India and we had good educational institutions as well.
Nobel Laureate, Dr Abdul Salam in his short biography ‘the Cosmic Anger’ has written that the laboratory of the Physics Department of Government College was almost comparable to that of University of Cambridge.
Now there is no comparison between present and future economic projections for India and Pakistan. We have to seriously think about where we lost the race. We used to make fun of Nehruvian rate of economic growth of less than three percent, after being doled out USAid under the Baghdad Pact while ignoring the fact that they were investing in IIT and IIMs and three of their consecutive education Ministers after partition were Muslims, starting with legendary Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
This writer has seen the economics and business of Pakistan from all dimensions. As a senior partner at the largest accounting practice in Pakistan, as president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan, as Regulatory Director of the Karachi Stock Exchange, as Chairman Federal Board of Revenue of Pakistan and as Independent Director of major listed companies.
On the basis of this multi-dimensional experience my conclusion is that there is some defect in present Muslim DNA. We have a false superiority complex of some ‘system’ which will be there if we all become good Muslims. All the energies expended on making good Muslims.
Firstly, we have to turn ourselves into good Muslims only then will we be able to create good institutions. Taliban tried to adopt a shorter route, albeit (unsuccessfully), with which the majority of us disagree. Famous scholar Dawood Rahbar has given very correct statement in this regard. He said ‘man needs a good society not a good religion’.
The important aspect of the announcement of the Tata Group Chairman is that this activity will be carried out in the private sector. We Pakistanis have some misapprehensions about the public and private sectors in India. India under Nehru’s pursued socialist policies like Pakistan under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto nationalised banks. Unlike the general perception we are one step ahead in privatisation of the banking sector where in Pakistan all, except major banks, are in the private sector.
In India, the majority of the banks are still in the public sector, and industry is thriving. The difference between Nehru’s nationalisation and Bhutto’s action was that in the former case it was a part of a decided policy and was limited to banks, life insurance and a very few limited number of industries.
In Pakistan, however, we ended up nationalising ghee and rice mills. In India, there was never a sense of vindictiveness in the process as Nehru and Gandhi were socially very close to big industrial groups like Tatas and Birlas.
In Pakistan, there was a sense of vindictiveness as the industries which were being nationalised were owned by those who did not necessarily represent the feudal class. In India, however, none of the major industrial groups left the country after the nationalization; whereas in Pakistan, almost every one left.
There were intellectual shifts also. Dr Mahbubul Haque wrote that about 22 families championed the private sector only in the latter part of his life. Other instances can also be cited for the differences; however, the present need is to look for the way forward for Pakistan.
In this writer’s view, the answer to this question is very simple. The first step is to reduce the political temperature. There is no black and white in real world; as it’s only grey. The next step is to realise and acknowledge that Pakistan has been left behind in the race and we will have to work harder to catch up.
The third step is to design the plan of economic development of Pakistan for the next 50 years divided into five-year plans. If the projections cannot be made for the next fifty years then there is a definite need to reconsider other political options.
This job of planning for next fifty years be given to a constitutionally formed ‘National Planning Board’ under the Chairman of a noted economist involving all provinces, economic sectors and interests. Time allowed to the Commission must not exceed six months from the date of appointment. No member is to be a government servant or a member of any political party.
The last immediate action is to open up share of economic data within the SAARC region so that our people who have a common culture, history and background can learn from each other. We have to compete with India in economics, not in cricket matches alone. I am sure that people of Pakistan have the capability to catch up in the race if they realise that others are running faster than them.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022