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analysis firstperson Thirty
nine years down the road taxation Taxation
in times of crisis issue Engine of
transformation Alternatives in financing infrastructure By Dr Noman Ahmed A great deal of activity was observed in the power sector during November 2010. The second conference on the subject outlined many pressing issues that await quick solutions. The requirement of capital investment in various sub-sectors was identified across the board by distribution companies. Dearth of capital is not limited to power sector alone. It is the pressing need of almost all infrastructural sectors across the country.
Brutal honesty It is problematic in the extreme to censure Baloch By Aasim Sajjad Akhtar It would be all to easy to spend the next few
paragraphs pontificating about the Haj fiasco that finally culminated
Tuesday in the sacking of two federal ministers, the resignation of two
more and the dramatic departure from the coalition benches of the Jamia’t-e-Ulema-e-Islam
– Fazlur Rahman (JUI – F). One could lament the lack of maturity
within our political mainstream at a time when maturity is exactly what is
required. One could underline the need for the media to eschew
sensationalism and stop inciting ‘regime change’. I would rather avoid comment on the matter entirely and focus instead on a news item that garnered considerable coverage this past week, even if fleetingly. The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday released a special report on target killings of teachers across the province of Balochistan. Members of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) were present on the launch of the report in the federal capital, ostensibly to lend their credibility to the HRW’s findings. The report essentially slams Baloch nationalist elements that have taken up arms in pursuit of their political goals for employing violence against unarmed civilians — mostly teachers — whose mistake only is that they are Punjabi settlers. Indeed it is true that target killings of Punjabis have increased noticeably in recent months as the long and simmering conflict between Baloch nationalists and the Pakistani state has intensified. Many of the attacks perpetrated by militants have been quite gruesome, and indicate a growing xenophobic streak within the nationalist movement. In principle I agree with the authors of the report
that indiscriminate violence against non-combatants in a war zone cannot
be defended, per se. Moreover, as someone committed to articulating and
building an alternative But this is my personal political position, and cannot be the basis of an absolute condemnation of the actions of militants in Balochistan. In fact I find it problematic in the extreme to censure Baloch nationalists for admittedly objectionable actions without contextualising such actions and recognising that they are not actions as much as reactions. I am not suggesting that HRW, HRCP or other human
rights organisations believe that target killings of Punjabis are to be
considered in isolation from the resentment and alienation that is
sweeping across Balochistan due to decades of state repression and
marginalisation. In fact the HRW report does start by recognising
underlying Ultimately however, the liberal paradigm of human rights that underlies the existence and operation of organisations such as HRW inadequately captures the essence of social conflicts such as that which has raged in Balochistan for the best part of six decades. Human rights as envisaged in the liberal tradition are individualist and the material bases of inequality and oppression are all too often isolated from the ideal of individual ‘human’ rights. Hence while any one human life cannot be considered any more or less valuable than any other, it is also intellectually and politically suspect to not clearly preface ‘human rights violations’ with a clear and holistic statement of the structural violence that underpins any asymmetrical conflict. In particular, as is the case in Balochistan, in a conflict between the modern state (with all of its coercive force) and those who claim to resist the modern state, employing liberal, individualist notions of rights can be very dangerous. What I mean to say is that when an organisation such as
HRW launches a report with the media fanfare that it Surely HRW knows that over the past few weeks target killings of Baloch nationalists — and moderates at that — have increased exponentially. It also knows that these killings have been virtually blacked out in mainstream media accounts. The HRW is entitled to — indeed I may even be willing to say that it should — highlight the excesses of Baloch nationalists. But given what has been happening in Balochistan in recent times, why not assert without hesitation the asymmetry of the conflict in the province and thereby ensure a reading of history and an analysis of the present that is far less prone to manipulation by the powers-that-be? The question is, of course, rhetorical. Organisations
such as the HRW and those embedded in conflict zones such as the Red Cross
and Doctors without Borders incessantly assert their non-partisan
character. They operate within the confines of established international
law — which is premised on the same liberal, individualist, and western
notions that underlie the paradigm of human rights. These organisations do a lot of very important work, and it would be foolish to view them entirely in black and white terms. But it is just as foolish to think about the international human rights regime outside of the prevailing political, economic, and cultural context. I am just as willing to call attention to the injustices meted out by ethnic-nationalists in Balochistan — or anywhere else for that matter — as the next person. But I refuse to adopt an untenable political and moral position that equates the human rights violations of the nationalists to the gross structural violence of the Pakistani state. In any case, adopting such a position does not help in stemming indiscriminate violence, and may even reinforce the ‘cornered tiger’ psychology that has established deep roots within the Baloch, and particularly youth. I am a friend of ordinary Baloch and Punjabis both, but real friendship requires brutal honesty. And perhaps such honesty is not a luxury available to us all.
Lessons in history Our polices have been so By Raza Khan Dr Razia Sultana is a well-known professor of history of Pakistan. Besides a long career in university teaching, Dr Sultana has conducted voluminous research on various eras of history of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Consequently, she has authored tens of research papers on different historical periods. She is presently chairperson Department of History,
Quaid-e-Azam University. She got her PhD from University of Peshawar in
History as well as obtained a master’s degree in the discipline of
History from the same university by clinching a gold medal. Later she went
as a Fulbright fellow to US and did her postdoctoral from Center on
International Cooperation New York University. Before joining QAU, Islamabad, she also taught at the University of Peshawar. As a visiting faculty, she has taught at the Foreign Services Academy of Pakistan (Islamabad); Department of Social Sciences, University of Missouri; Center of International Scholars Clarke Center Dickinson College; Department of History, West Minster College, Missouri; Dickinson College, Pennsylvania; Department of History, South Novak College, Connecticut. Dr Sultana’s area of expertise is Modern Afghanistan and Central Asian History and Politics. TNS sat with her and discussed various contemporary issues of Pakistan and Afghanistan and recent historical developments and their context. Excerpts follow.
The News on Sunday: Contemporary Pakistan is facing the worst crisis. Not only is there a political insurgency aimed at separatism going on in Balochistan but also a religious insurgency aimed at running over the state itself. So what future lies ahead for the country? Razia Sultana: Although this is true but at the same time the country’s youth is extremely vibrant. What they need is to put their energies in the right direction. I am optimistic that if we let this political process continue, the state would be able at some stage, if not now, to provide the wherewithal, direction and leadership to the youth. I don’t believe in the concept that leaders only exist in the political arena or may emerge from the same sphere. The spheres of education and economy also have their leaders where media have its own leaders. Such leaders in Pakistan are numerous. This is a globalised and interdependent world in which the concept of leadership is very diffused. Moreover, all the things can’t be corrected by one leader; we can’t bank upon Asif Zardari or the likes to come to our rescue. We and you are the leaders of our own domains and this is a big contribution to the national mainstream. This gives me a lot of confidence. TNS: How would you evaluate the state of Pakistani federalism? RS: Our polices have been so security-centric or obsessed with security primarily due to Indian military threat — perceived as well as real — that we could not evolve a true democratic culture. The idea of a strong federation we got from the 1935 Act which the new state of Pakistan adopted as interim constitution. We carried this element over to our earlier constitutions. In the 1973 Constitution, we actually disassociated from this aspect of 1935 Act but in practice we continued with the same strong federation. So the major problem of political instability within the Pakistani federation is of over-centralisation. If federalism in its true spirit is introduced in our country many of our acute problems will solve themselves. Rather true federalism is the only to keep Pakistan united. TNS: What is the state of leftist movement in today’s Pakistan? RS: With the demise of Soviet Union, the basic argument of ‘Left’ ‘Right’ or ‘Centre’ has to a great extent diluted. In Pakistan political division of the yore has got very mixed up. We have people who are moderate and liberal but the watertight polarisation of ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ is no more there. TNS: Does that mean that the Leftist movement has got diluted into the liberal movement? RS: There is no liberal or leftist movement in the real sense of the word. What we are facing are peculiar problems. In the post Cold War era, these problems are greatly related to the uni-polar world and enlightened moderation with liberal ideas. The only challenge to it comes from the ideological spectrum. I think liberal and moderate people should provide a strong platform. This is the only way to stop youth from going the other way to the platform provided by the religious groups. This is the only way also to save our youth from being misled. Right now the youth of Pakistan do not have any other alternative platform to address their grievances. TNS: How would you evaluate Pakistan civil society? RS: Pakistani civil society is really vibrant which was very much evident during the Lawyers Movement. Not only that, our media is quite vibrant which is a very strong pillar of the civil society; the NGO and technocrat sector is also quite talented. TNS: You have conducted research on Pakhtoons in particular. Are they peaceful people or bellicose culturally which may be the main factor behind religious militancy and terrorism? RS: Pashtoons are peaceful and cultural people, historically rich in traditions. They are deeply hospitable; this itself shows they are peaceful and optimistic people. Moreover, Pashtoons have an open society and they want to interact and establish relationship with people from other cultures. Pashtoons provide refuge to people in ‘need’ at the cost of their families and personal lives. So the culture of Pashtoons show they are good people and their history also tells us that they are not as they are today — portrayed as terrorists or militants. It is in fact a political construct that Pashtoons are depicted as terrorists. TNS: What are the factors responsible for extremism and terrorism in Pakistan? RS: Extremism and terrorism is a very complex phenomenon and as a historian I cannot single out one factor for its rise and spreading. However, the main cause of violence in our country is the direct outcome of the Afghan conflict. TNS: Do you think that religious extremism and terrorism in Pakistan has much to do with preventing genuine political actors to do the decision-making by the powers-that-be? RS: What you are talking about definitely is correct but it played its role at the stage of proliferation of extremism and terrorism. Usually we think that we cannot control extremism and terrorism because we have weak institutions, crisis of leadership and frequent disruption of the political process by the military. These factors have a direct role in the spread of militancy and radicalism. Our entanglement into regional conflicts in Kashmir and Afghanistan has had much to do with the rise of extremism and militancy. TNS: What is the reason for so many Punjabis becoming Taliban, of late? RS: With regard to Punjabi Taliban, it more has to do with groups like Jaish etc. which are focusing on the Kashmir dispute. This is the main cause of Punjabis becoming militants. TNS: What has been the impact in a nutshell of military and civilian bureaucracy’s too much or almost complete involvement in the statecraft or politics? RS: Military has been contending that politicians are too corrupt and incompetent to run the system and this is one justification they give for their dominating the political arena. I think it is from both the political and military sides, and on top of it the international causes, that the military has come to dominate decision-making in Pakistan. We have a strong and rival country like India on our border, then we have had our political disagreements with Afghanistan regarding border and territorial issues. That insecure situation, with two superpowers playing very strong role behind the scenes, has really been a significant factor in making military to play a dominant role in Pakistan. So there are many stakeholders that inhibited political process to take its own course. TNS: What is the nature of current wave of religious extremism in Pakistan? RS: I think the nature is political. Ideology has been use to rally the people around, provide them a platform, mobilise them. All through history whether in ancient or medieval or modern time, ideology has been used to mobilise people. See the history of Afghanistan where mullahs played a role against the British they provided leadership also. Those who have studied the dynamics of Swat crisis have come out with the conclusion that though Swatis have been very peaceful and their area is considered a very stable part of Pakistan, still whenever uprising took place it was the mullah who spearheaded it. TNS: It means that mullahs have risen due to the leadership vacuum in Pakistan and they have political objectives too primarily to overrun the state? RS: I think it is not like that. There are different types of societal leadership. At least two types: political and religious. Maulvis have been enjoying street power all through known history of this area. But it does not mean that that in normal times they are accepted as political leaders. Although Pakistan and Afghanistan are predominantly Muslims, the arena of politics and statecraft is dominated by very secular people. Typical example are Pakhtoon which according to one of their popular saying ‘Pakhtoonwali Is half Kufr.’ Many Pashtoons sport beards and turn rosaries but the same men run liquor and gun shops or are involved in smuggling. So the nature of militancy in our country is political and these ideological and religious tools are used to keep the militants together. With respect to Afghan Taliban, you could say that they established for some six years a role-model kind of a state. They experimented ideology into a political structure. In this context, you are right that in FATA and some settled areas of Pakistan where Taliban come to establish their own institution and run these according to their own rules they try to govern it which shows they have political objectives. TNS: Do you think that people in FATA and KPK are prone to ideological manipulations more than other parts of Pakistan? RS: Of course people are informed; they would not like to follow these people blindly. They would think about it, see the situation around and foresee the future consequences of what they are doing or asked to do by obscurantist elements. There are many Wazirs, Mehsud, Bhittains from North and South Waziristan who are in bureaucracy, military and other important professions and contributing greatly to the state. But there are many back in North, South Waziristan, Orakzai and elsewhere who are leading Taliban and making their ranks and files. So the difference is that of enlightenment. (Author email: razapkhan@yahoo.com)
Thirty nine years down the road Staying mute on why the East Pakistan required a separate homeland will not help Pakistan By Abid Qayum Suleri Thirty nine years have passed since fall of Dhaka. For
decades it was a taboo in Pakistan to discuss the actors and factors
leading to separation of East Pakistan. Even now, very little discussion
is held about the people of East Pakistan, why they wanted independence
from West Pakistan and a separate homeland. In most history and text books
written in Pakistan, the discussion on this topic is very conveniently
diverted to the negative role of India. The usual conclusion is that the
anti federation elements in East Pakistan got support from Indian Army and
the Pakistani Army had to surrender and Bangladesh fought its way to
independence. Others blame the stubbornness of Z.A. Bhutto and Sheikh
Mujeeb for the creation of Bangladesh. Well, partition of Pakistan was not as simple as mentioned in the text books. In order to learn a lesson from history we need to confront the truth and truth is that deprivation, social injustice, exclusion and marginalisation suffered by the people of the then East Pakistan had developed soon after 1947. The fact of the matter is that unequal distribution of resources turned their blessings into a curse. Social injustice destroys the basic fabric of a society and lack of democratic governance coupled with economic disparities shake the foundations of a nation. All of the above mentioned factors worked paving way for Indian interference and resulted in the fall of Dhaka. The history is distorted in South Asia to serve the political interests of ruling elites, civilian and military establishment. Three types of histories prevail here; one that is narrated in our country, the other that is taught in the neighbouring country and a third that is the true history which the masses won’t discuss due to taboos, state of denial, fear or ignorance. The same is true for the history of partition of Pakistan. One should observe the current state of affairs to understand historic events leading to the inception of Bangladesh. Our civil and military establishment have been denying the Balochistan and FATA crisis for decades. They claimed was that a small minority caused the disturbances in Balochistan and FATA through external support. Establishment forces still deny the disparity in South Punjab claiming it to be the issue of some minor Seraiki politicians. These forces are also denying that inflation, power shortage and unemployment would bring the people to street in Punajb and urban Sindh leading to socio-political sabotage. This is the repetition of same blunder that we committed in East Pakistan when our civil and military establishment denied prevalence of sense of deprivation among people of East Pakistan. Individual deprivation, poverty and exclusion when gets an identity be it creed, ethnic, provincial, sectarian, or class leads to creation of two groups, "have" and "have nots". Like majority of population in smaller provinces of Pakistan today, back in the sixties the people of East Pakistan found that they were in have not group. They were forced to join the struggle between haves and have nots which culminated in the creation of Bangladesh (although another struggle between haves and have not of Bangladesh is on now). Unfortunately the angels ruling our country did not learn their lesson and tried to hide the history under the carpet. They followed East India Company model of ruling the masses through few selected elites in East Pakistan and instead of rectifying their mistakes are still following the same model for ruling the people in Balochistan, FATA, and South Punjab through selected tribal lords, Maliks, and feudal lords. It is evident from SDPI-WFP-SDC latest report of food security in Pakistan that doling out money and privileges to this elite did not work. Inter and intra provincial disparities have increased manifolds. FATA has the highest percentage of food insecure population (67.7 percent) followed by Balochistan (61.2 percent), and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) (56.2 percent). Among the districts, Dera Bugti has the highest percentage of food insecure people (82.4 percent). Balochistan has the maximum number of districts with worst conditions for food security. Twenty six out of twenty nine districts of Balochistan are food insecure. The 20 districts of Pakistan with worst conditions for food security include 10 districts from Balochistan, 5 from FATA; 3 from KPK; and 1 from Gilgit-Baltistan and Sindh each. The number of districts from Balochistan in this category has doubled since 2003. It is not only a coincidence that most food insecure districts in Pakistan are most militancy hit districts too. This is not only true for Balochistan, KPK, and FATA but for Sindh and Punjab too. In Punjab Rajanpur, D.G.Khan and Muzafargarh are the most food insecure districts and they are hit by Southern Talbanisation too. In Sindh the most food insecure districts include Kashmore, Kandhkot, Shikarpur, Dadu, Jacobabad and these districts are hit by tribal militancy too. Today militancy is the single largest threat to our national existence and one needs to dig deeper to understand the roots of militancy and violence. It would be difficult to exclude the role of external actors for the mess we are in. However, we also need to admit and learn from our mistakes. Social injustice and lack of inclusive development policies paved the way for creation of Bangladesh. Thirty nine years down the road, are you not sensing a few more Bangladeshs in the making here? Dr. Abid Qaiyum Suleri is the Executive Director of Sustainable Development Policy Institute and can be reached at suleri@sdpi.org taxation Taxing agricultural income Both the By Huzaima Bukhari and Dr Ikramul Haq Taxing agricultural income is the sole prerogative of provincial governments under the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan. These days confusion prevails about the laws in force for levy of income tax on agricultural income. It is strange to note that politicians,
parliamentarians, TV anchors and so-called experts are not clear about
these laws. They keep on criticizing federal government for not levying
income tax on "agricultural income" without realising that the
fault lies with the provincial governments. The total collection by all the four provinces under these laws was dismally low in 2009 at just Rs1.89 billion collected against the actual potential of Rs200 billion. The share of agriculture in GDP that year was about 22 percent. The low collection proves beyond any doubt lack of will to tax the rich absentee landlords in Pakistan; their number is meager but their clout in politics is very strong. This influential class includes the generals and other high-ranking military officers, who now own substantial state land, given to them as awards. They have emerged as a new landed aristocracy. Like barons of feudal Europe, they control our politico-economic system. Ruthless exploitation of the landless tillers and industrial workers (most of the industries are now also owned by feudal lords in parliament) is the real issue that has never been addressed by any political party. Presently, the provincial governments are not levying and collecting tax on agricultural income but charging a fixed tax on per-acre basis. The charge is usually Rs150 per acre from the irrigated areas and Rs100 per acre from non-irrigated lands. This acreage-based charge is in gross violation of the Constitution that stipulates tax on agricultural income as defined in Article 260(1). Entry 47, Part 1 of Federal Legislative List contained in the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution (it remains intact even after the 18th Amendment), empowers the federal government to levy "Taxes on income other than agricultural income". The expression "agricultural income" is defined in Article 260(1) of the Constitution, which says: "Agricultural income" means agricultural income as defined for the purpose of the law relating to income tax." The word "means" signifies that this is an exhaustive definition that binds all the provincial legislatures to levy tax on "agricultural income" as defined in the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. However, the provinces, instead of following that definition, are levying fixed tax. Nobody has taken note of this gross violation till today. Both the federation and provinces under the Constitution are bound to follow the definition of "agricultural income" as provided in the Income Tax Law while determining their legislative powers in terms of Article 70(4), Article 141, and Article 142 read with the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution. However, it is a matter of great concern that all the four provinces are perpetually violating the command of the supreme law of Pakistan. Even a cursory look at laws (and amendments therein from time to time) promulgated by them, to tax "agricultural income" shows that:- (a)Khyber Pakhtunkhaw has not even provided the definition of "agricultural income" in its Northwest Frontier Province Agricultural Income Tax Ordinance, 1993. The tax levied under the name of "Income Tax" is, in fact, a land tax on the basis of produce index units. This is nothing but a mockery of legislative process. If there was no political will to impose income tax on "agricultural income", then what was the need to hoodwink the people by calling it Agricultural Income Tax? Since 1993 no government of the province has bothered to correct this anomaly. This shows the level of understanding of Constitutional provisions by our legislators (sic). (b)The same is the case with Sindh Agricultural Income Tax Act of 1994 as amended from time to time. The PPP government is keen to collect VAT or sales tax on services, which it should as its constitutional right, but it has no desire to tax the rich pirs and waderas. Would this nation be informed how much tax is paid by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, and many other feudal-cum-pirs of Sindh on their agricultural income? (c)The Punjab Agricultural Income Tax of 1997, as amended from time to time, is no exception. No effort was made till 2000 to impose income tax on total income earned from this source. A face-saving device was introduced to levy yet another tax on acre basis at different rates in respect of irrigated and non-irrigated lands. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has never bothered to tax rich absentee landlords of his province — many of whom dominate PML(N). Proper legislation should have been made as per Constitution to tax the Khosas, Gilanis, Quershis, Tiwanas, Sardars, Chaudharis, Maliks — just to mention a few. Such taxation could have provided room to initiate a number of meaningful welfare and job-oriented schemes for the have-nots, unlike the gimmick of sasti roti that was not restricted to the needy alone. But certainly, even the Sharifs have no intention to tax the rich and mighty feudals. They themselves have joined this class by grabbing many lucrative lands. See palatial palaces in Jati Umra, flats in Mayfair London, property in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and elsewhere. (d)In Baluchistan, the position is no different. From 1993 to 1999, the Governor of Balochistan promulgated various Agricultural Income Tax Ordinances that were amended from time to time, following the same pattern as in the other three provinces. The above analysis shows that none of the four provinces, while levying income tax on "agricultural income" followed Article 260(1) of the Constitution. All the agricultural income tax laws passed by them are superficial whereas in substance no tax on "agricultural income" has been imposed by any province, showing an attitude of contempt and apathy towards the Constitutional provisions. None of the four provinces has levied income tax on "agricultural income" as defined in the Constitution. The military and civil governments have consistently shown disrespect to the Constitution. This explains why constitutional democracy has failed to work in Pakistan; economic interests of landed aristocracy have primacy over the Constitutional rule whereas it should have been the other way around. No country can become a democratic society by merely following the system, rather nomenclature, of parliamentary democracy, restricting it to electioneering, unless it demonstrates by action. In Pakistan, we have witnessed just the opposite behavior. Lawmakers themselves blatantly violate the law but insist that others respect and follow the rule of law for the perpetuation of their economic interests. The beginning of change in Pakistan will be the day when these classes are taxed to give a blow to their ill-gotten money. The writers, authors of many books and tax advisers, are Visiting Professors at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
Will RGST and flood tax help the government? By Irfan Mufti The government is still struggling with its resource gap to meet the basic needs of flood survivors. The gap is still too large to be filled with the existing or expected resources committed for flood rehabilitation. Among several options, the government is also considering levying the one time 10 percent additional flood tax on income to raise approximately 60 billion rupees needed for reconstruction and rehabilitation purposes. The tax will help generate additional finances for the rehabilitation of the flood-affected population and reconstruction of the affected areas. However, the governments' 'indecision' over the
proposed flood tax is worrisome. The government's inability to raise
resources locally is creating problems for the donors to generate funds
for people affected in Pakistan's worst calamity. Despite assurances from government that flood tax would be nominal and would not put additional burden on the tax payers the business community and tax payers are reluctant to accept these proposals. Government has assured that one-time flood surcharge would not be imposed on income, sales tax, import and export but it would be charged on property, land and higher income groups who can bear the burden. Similarly the government's proposal for Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST) has met with serious criticism in the Senate and its coalition partners do not seem fully committal on supporting the proposal in the parliament. The major political parties within and outside the government as well as business and industry leaders are vehemently opposing these taxes. This article is to discuss if there is a genuine reason to oppose these taxes. Pressure is mounting even though the government has been saying all along that the proposed RGST and flood tax will not burden the poor and would be imposed after the complete consensus of the provinces through proper legislation and approval of the parliament. The proposal also aims to bring more sectors into tax net by abolishing the tax exemptions and bring reforms in the current tax system. The government is also considering keeping the RGST ratio at 15 percent. The RGST appears to have been misunderstood by the taxpayers and hence is facing stiff resistance from different quarters. The RGST is a consumption-based tax: the more we consume the more we pay taxes. It is levied on any value that is added to a product. There are 141 countries that have implemented this tax successfully and are reaping benefits of higher revenue. If it can work well in those countries why can't it work in Pakistan? The general perception about this tax is that it is highly inflationary and will increase the tax burden of poor consumers, and will destroy businesses and trade in Pakistan. Lack of affective communication with stakeholders and general public has led to the building up of these misperceptions, for which the government is to blame. Taxing to rehabilitate flood mitigation, management and rehabilitating affectees is not a new concept in the modern world. Several countries have introduced such special taxing arrangements to raise extra resources for disaster management. Citizens are charged special taxes for flood control or rehabilitation tasks. It is however done after making some safeguards for the poor and those that are already burdened by state taxing. Such taxes are normally imposed on those that can afford or bear the burden of economic strains or help governments in special objective like rehabilitation and reconstruction in post disaster situations. What is different in Pakistan's case is lack of confidence and trust of ordinary citizens on the credibility, efficiency and effectiveness of government. Little do they believe the promises of the government thus unwilling to contribute even in the noble cause of helping the flood affectees. It also seems the present government hasn't done its homework before introducing these taxes at a time while ordinary citizens were already facing price hike and inflation. Adequate homework hasn't been done to present these concepts to the public and build their confidence and clarity on the importance and usefulness of these important taxes. The timing of levying these taxes is also not opportune. The sense of unity displayed at a time when the ravages of floods were unfolding, when the nation was coming together to help flood affectees, has diminished in the last two months. This tax will be imposed on salaried persons and the urban middle-class who are already paying income tax and also facing the brunt of higher food prices. The feudal earning billions from agriculture have remained out of the direct tax net and will remain exempt from flood tax as well. The way these taxes are presented they indeed are against the principles of equity and justice. In recent years the profitability in agriculture sector has increased due to the surge in the prices of agricultural commodities such as cotton, sugarcane and rice. This surge has transformed the profitability of Pakistan's rural economy and its large landholders. Cotton prices have been almost doubled in the recent crop and generated additional income of more than Rs250 billion for fairly large cotton growing farming community in Pakistan. Similarly the record increase in the price of sugarcane has given lucrative profit to sugar growers and sugar cartel in Pakistan. Rice growers are also raising heaving profit due to significant increase in rice prices. Additional Rs 390 billion, in the last two years, has been generated through the recent increase in support of wheat. Will it be fair to exempt several hundred billion rupees of income originating from agriculture from income tax? It will be however very unfair if the government levies additional flood tax on the incomes of the urban middle class while the agricultural sector, reaping lucrative profits, is exempted from the tax net. The government must consider mobilising additional fiscal resources by taxing agricultural incomes. Among other measures government can consider levying withholding taxes at the time of sale of commodity to the miller or at the time of export will be very effective in quickly mobilising fiscal resources. A relatively small tax of around 7-8 per cent of the price could yield tens of billions of rupees for the government. If the flood tax is imposed without taxing the gains in agriculture, it would be unfair and against the principle of equity and justice. As far as inflation is concerned, theoretically the reduction in tax rate, if passed on to consumers, would reduce the prices of consumption goods. When the RGST is introduced to hitherto exempt items, the prices of these items would necessarily go up. On balance, the introduction of the RGST would not be inflationary if the businesses and trade pass on the benefits of reduction in their tax burden to the people. It is generally observed that such reductions are seldom passed on to consumers. To that extent, the profit margin of businesses will go up and the consumer may see some rise in prices. It seems that the crisis in hand is not resource crunch or citizen's reaction to any government reforms but a total loss of trust, confidence and alienation of citizens from the state and government functions. These are important questions for our leaders to consider seriously before they are discredited further. The writer is Deputy Chief of South Asia Partnership Pakistan and Global Campaigner irfanmufti@gmail.com
Water conservation Pakistan needs a revamped water policy before it’s too late By Tahir Ali The prevalent drought has more forcefully reminded the policy makers in Pakistan what has been earlier established by this July’s devastating floods: that the country should build more water reservoirs to accommodate the rain/floods water sooner rather than later. It has also underscored the need for utilising the
waste-water resources for irrigation purposes to guard against the danger
of having rain-fed areas without crops in case of drought as is being
witnessed. The devastating flash floods have inflicted huge losses of about $10bn to the national economy. But if we learn from this calamity and become vigilant to volatile climate hazards by taking some measures, the calamity will be turned into an opportunity for development and prosperity. The situation is even dismal for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where non-irrigated land accounts for over 50 percent of wheat acreage. The irrigated wheat area there is usually is around 0.8 million acres and the rain-fed area is over 1 MA. With only a few days left in wheat sowing season, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is likely to miss its wheat sowing target of around 1.8mn acres this year. Gul Nawaz Khatak, the chief planning officer of ministry of agriculture in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said most of the wheat-specific southern districts like Laki Marwat, Tank, Bannu and Dera Ismail waited for rains, saying the rain-fed areas could have been cultivated had there been rain. "Even if it rains till 20th of December, it will make sowing possible. Otherwise the area will be left without wheat this year. As of now only those areas in non-irrigated lands have gone under wheat cultivation that had some moisture in it. If there is no rain, wheat target will be affected by about 10 to 12 per cent," he said. This inability to sow wheat due to lack of water at the provincial and national level, means farmers’ poverty, debt cycle for them, food inflation and food security problems. But it will also have serious financial repercussions for the cash-strapped provincial and national kitties. A loss of one million tons of wheat cost a whooping Rs24bn of exchequer. The province is expected to lose around 0.5 million tonnes and its woes would be further increased by this loss. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has already sustained a loss of around Rs200bn for floods and another Rs300bn for militancy shocks. Secretary irrigation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Muhammad Ashfaq Khan said the irrigation sector has suffered a loss of Rs11bn in floods. "As international donors and the federal government has not provided us the funds for reconstruction so far, we have decided to suspend our annual development programme and diverted funds to reconstruction efforts," he says. "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, for lack of infrastructure, is unable to utilise 3.28MAF of its share of water as per the 1991 accord. This is why new dams and canals are required in the province," he adds. An official said due to droughts the provincial seeds industry could sell only three of the target of six thousand tonnes seeds to farmers. "The situation is indeed very dismal this year. You know wheat can be sown till January but delay from December onward brings per hectare yield down considerably. The per hectare yield in the province already lower than rest of the country, it is not a good omen for the food deficient province," he said. He says the government would give around 1600 metric tonnes of the left over seeds to farmers free of cost now. The cost will be borne by a Kuwait based NGO. "By giving this residue of seeds to farmers, not only the farmers will get relief but if utilised, its expected production will be around 42000 metric tonnes. This will help reduce the gap between the wheat target and actual acreage," the official says. The land under wheat cultivation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is 1/5th of the 2.75 million hectare total cultivable land in the province. This needs to be increased. "The government must increase per acre yield, bring more land under cultivation and ensure mechanised farming and bigger land-holdings," Shah says. "This is why province badly needs the construction of promised but delayed/denied Chashma right bank canal’s lift scheme. This will irrigate 0.3MA of land. This will make the province food sufficient but it will also be in a position to export wheat," Shah argues. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is dependent for 3/4th of its annual wheat requirements of 3.73 million tonnes on Pasco, Punjab’s government or imports. Ghulam hussain, a farmer said first they faced shortage of seeds at the beginning of the sowing season and also DAP went out of the market. Later prices of fertilizers surged. How can we achieve the target when each and every input is scarce or costly," he says. "The climate change scenario was an established phenomenon for which the researchers and the government should try to introduce air/drought/ high temperature and excessive rainfall-resistant varieties that could resist the vagaries of the weather and yielded more grain," Shah says. "The yield per hectare has reached to over 5000kg in China, but we still have about 2400kg per hectare in the country and still lower in the province," he adds. The provincial government has prepared detailed designs, feasibility study, pre-feasibility report of around 100 new small dams. The federal government should finance these and the Kurram Tangi dam, Munda dam and some other dams and rivers advocated by the provincial irrigation department. Reservoirs for rainwater should also be built. This is vital for Khyber pakhtunkhwa as 49% of cultivated area is rain-fed.
In Pakistan’s context, media has a huge role on its shoulders of informing and transforming the society By Raza Khan Since democratising a society is a social transformation, it is necessary to first democratise the attitudes and behaviour of the people. Therefore, to have the desired results as quickly as possible, change has to be introduced by making use of the modern tools — in particular, education and media extensively and adroitly. While Pakistan lags far behind other countries in the
field of education, it has, fortunately, experienced exponential growth of
media, particularly electronic media, in recent years. This can be a
medium to attain the ideal of a democratic culture in the country.
Pakistan’s media could play an instrumental role in contributing to
changing the social behaviour. The rule of the people depends upon information. Media ensures the flow of information. The idea is that people are informed and they will make pragmatic decisions. However, for rational decision-making, Pakistani public needs more knowledge. So, if people are going to make the right decisions in governing themselves, they need a wide array of information. Ideally, they should know all of their options so that they can decide which option is the best. It is one of the essential democratic roles of the media to help people form opinion by overseeing the functioning of government. As far as the democratic role of the media in Pakistan is concerned they definitely have played a big role. This public sphere has grown significantly after the rise of private electronic media channels in Pakistan. Wide-ranging debates on various socio-political issues are being held in the process, informing and educating the people. However, the problem is that some anchors and producers seem to have no clear agenda in mind while making these programmes. The volume of such debates is huge and they provide diverse viewpoints from various political, social, and civil society quarters. This leaves us with the theories of ‘information overload’ and ‘well informed utility’. People do not have the capacity, due to lack of education and exposure, to process a large body of information without an effort. At the moment, one criticism of the Pakistani media is that it is ‘manufacturing’ public opinion. The function of the media is to keep a check on state authorities. It also facilitates a public debate over the issues of governance. In this respect, Pakistani media is doing a commendable job. It has to be fully focused so that the government could be made accountable. The coming to the fore of private electronic media channels has stepped up media role of keeping a vigil on the misuse of authority. However, there is still vast room for improvement. Recently, the media in Pakistan has unearthed cases of financial and political corruption of the authorities. However, few state functionaries have been held accountable while the level of corruption has empirically increased. Credit must be given to some newspapers and TV channels for unfolding scathing attack on the powers that-be. For instance, the publication of Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission report is evidence of media’s role. Another very important role of the media in a democratic polity is their consumer representation role. This means whatever that embodies contents of media is in fact the rational choice of their audience. As media work in a free market system where the consumers (audience) are at liberty to choose whatever that is offered, media must make their contents compatible with consumers demand. As far as the role of consumer representation by Pakistani media is concerned, the track record is not heartening. Instead of representing the public it has been termed into consumerists. This has large-scale anti-social consequences with consumerism on the rise. Instead of an economy based on firm footings of Gross Domestic Production, it has been the consumer-led economic growth in Pakistan. The role of the media in a democracy is crucial. But it is not that easy as information is being provided with great speed and is so voluminous that people cannot properly process it and remain confused. This typically is the situation as explained by communication theories of ‘information overload’ and ‘well-informed utility’. By presenting the viewpoint of economically and politically strong, the opinion of the marginalised groups, and thus the opinion that is presented as public, is neither truly public nor made in a neutral arena. There is also a view that some media sources are either directly or indirectly under the sway of powers that be, unable to reflect a true picture. The writer is a political analyst with specialisation in politics and media razapkhan@yahoo.com
Alternatives in financing infrastructure Innovative approaches have to be devised to develop public-private partnerships in infrastructure development and management By Dr Noman Ahmed A great deal of activity was observed in the power sector during November 2010. The second conference on the subject outlined many pressing issues that await quick solutions. The requirement of capital investment in various sub-sectors was identified across the board by distribution companies. Dearth of capital is not limited to power sector alone. It is the pressing need of almost all infrastructural sectors across the country. Natural disasters, increasing needs due to population rise and expansion in societal demands due to changing lifestyles has made it imperative upon the government to extend a compatible social and physical infrastructure to peoples all across the country. Roads and highways, water supply and sanitation, irrigation channels, power, gas, railway links, airports, warehouses, telecom and IT networks, and a host of other components are an integral part of everyday life. With its debt ridden portfolio of public finances, the government cannot effectively finance the infrastructure according to emerging needs of the society for sure. The various failure stories in the form of railways and national flag carrier airlines are citations to this fact. But the government can certainly take bold steps to develop stable alternatives of financing infrastructure in a creative manner. Development of a potent regulatory environment, accelerated options of public private partnerships and launch of infrastructure certificates are some options. A positive point to note from our context is the existence of regulatory authorities in power, gas, telecom and electronic media sectors. However, the performance, leadership and neutrality of most of these organisations are questionable. The stake holders, especially private sector outfits, are only interested to invest when professionals are invited to head such institutions. Maintaining absolute objectivity of approach, healthy growth and sustenance of the sector and extension of affordable services to all range of consumers become pre-requisites of a potent regulatory authority. Fencing against inappropriate political influence is another vital factor. Past episodes in the oil and gas sectors have left many undesirable marks on the respective regulatory authority. Maximum sharing of information with the stakeholders and public at large and ensuring open access for all the interacting stakeholders are perhaps some steps that can generate positive impacts. Innovative approaches have to be devised to develop public-private partnerships in infrastructure development and management. Certain sectors can be targeted to get the ball rolling. For instance, solid waste management in large cities can be managed through concession contracts with the assistance of well-known service providing firms. The city and district governments can ensure the availability of land for transfer stations and landfill sites while the private operators can be hired to collect waste, sweep the roads and streets and manage landfill sites. With an active participation of stakeholders from formal and informal sectors, a mutually acceptable strategy can be effectively worked out. A yardstick for evaluating the performance of each stakeholder can be worked out. Lessons from the unfulfilled contracts and agreements can become the baseline considerations for the launch of future initiatives. Intelligent design and execution of infrastructure programmes, based on public-private partnerships, can generate results. Revitalisation of urban and national railway systems, urban water supply, and sanitation can constitute basic features of this approach. The government can mull over the possibility of floating short, medium, and long term certificates for infrastructure financing. The services of financial market experts can be acquired to design and offer domestic debt instruments in a marketable way. These instruments can be frilled up with attractions such as a flexible lock in period, convertibility, tax benefits, and government guarantees. The focus of this initiative is to attract the public private capital kept by ordinary people into active utilisation for the purpose of developing infrastructure all across the country. Despite the past legacy of mistrust between government and ordinary people, it is still noticed that people prefer to invest in government projects and consider them less risky than most available private options. The government can capitalise on this advantageous factor and devise attractive but transparent mechanism to win over this capital generation campaign. Provident funds can make one option provided the statutory requirements are strictly abided in the transactions. Overseas Pakistanis may also be invited after scientific assessment and formulation of comparative advantages that can be offered in this regard. Other avenues of generating monetary resources can also be explored such as debt mutual funds, prize bonds, municipal bonds, and even formulation of joint stock companies for consumer service-providing ventures. A dependable infrastructure is the key pre-requisite to development. And it requires healthy and dependable financial back-up. By unleashing creative potential of ideas and application, a definite turn around can be guaranteed. Home|Daily Jang|The News|Sales & Advt|Contact Us| |
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political project to the unitary state model that has been foisted upon
oppressed ethnic groups in this country — particularly the Baloch — I
find it difficult to understand how the modus operandi that has been
adopted by the more radical nationalist elements in Balochistan actually
serves the cause of either the long-suffering Baloch people or other
oppressed nationalities and exploited classes within Pakistan.
political realities.
necessarily generates, it does so knowing that the issue being highlighted
will be magnified or suppressed depending on the wider political
environment. So, in this case, HRW is aware that the Pakistani state has
consistently portrayed Baloch nationalists — militant and moderate both
— as enemies of the proverbial Pakistani nation, replete with regular
invocations of the all-powerful ‘foreign hand’.
