This is apropos aBusiness Recorder news item "Railways still on deficit track, NA told" carried by the newspaper on Friday. According to it, the deficit of Pakistan Railways stood at Rs 26.993 billion on June 30, 2016 while expenditure of the organisation soared from Rs 48.535 billion in 2012-13 to Rs 63.154 billion during 2015-16.
Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique informed National Assembly that the increase in expenditure is mainly due to an increase in pay, pension and allowances as a result of budget announcements and cannot be curtailed. His remarks clearly show his government's approach to politics. To him or his government politics has precedence over everything else.
How ironic however it is that Nawaz Sharif in his third term in prime minister's office is trying to emulate the Pakistan People's Party that has already turned state-owned entities into employment bureaus for greater political causes or expediencies.
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