The current coalition government of PDM, no doubt, comprises of multiple political parties embracing every nook and corner of our beloved country. It is extensively represented at the national level which has lawfully and validly come in power by operation of provision of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Good governance is the desire and demand of every citizen. Leaving aside the political arena, whoever stands at the helm of affairs of the government must know that the civil service structure is a useful devise, and efficient and efficacious tool to achieve the objective of implementation of public oriented directives which especially when aiming at the welfare of the downtrodden segment of our society. But when such beneficial decision face failure in the field the situation tarnishes the position of the government and defeats the sacred purpose. In such a phenomenon the concerned district authorities including the representatives of the public who happen to be the organ of ruling party should be held responsible and taken to task. Ramdan Package has to be conducted on warfooting. Key to the ideal achievement are the golden principles of unity, faith and discipline. Violation of any of these cherished fundamentals could lead to a catastrophe and positive efforts of the federal government go waste.
The substantial issues confronting the nation are lack of foreign exchange due to less exports and less inflow of foreign remittances, extravagance in expenditure in all spheres of life. Reckless attitude of the affluent personalities of the country, shortcomings of the ruling leadership to motivate the public at large within and outside the country, lack and delayed decisions of austerity measures, absence of the feelings for voluntary donations of resources to the government to safeguard the honor of the nation, are some of the causes of financial difficulties. The eminent threat of the drought in 2025 as foreseen by the international experts on the subject also needs immediate attention of the government, for micro level reservoir of rain water lest it should be too late.
There is no denying the fact that it is a genuine arduous task to steer the ship with such a large number of political elements cherishing divergent manifestoes. This combination has resulted in an unprecedented number of flag holders earning bad name for the government instead of jointly grappling with the formidable public problems arising in the field. Charity begins at home. If each Senator, MNA, MPA and flag holders offer to donate local as well as foreign currency to the government exchequer they could setup an enviable precedent.
The larger the number of flag holders, the larger the number of police force require for each flag. The consequence would be that the citizens are left at the mercy of decoits and are being looted in the streets while no police force of visible. Police is the target of terrorists on the one hand and are also faced with an apathetic attitude of the public on the other. The public feels that the police force never arrives to rescue them besides their unhealthy behavior. Women are the easy and common target of the rasclas. The incidents seem to be recorded by the cameras but not seen by the police in time who take up a futile exercise after the occurrence. Another aspect which consumes the major chunks of the police force is the condemnable psyche and demand of protocol duty. A line has to be drawn between the urgency of security and luxury of simple protocol. Observing such a difficulty for the police force once there was a political will in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the government of the time declare to have only five flags for the President, the Prime Minister, the Speaker, and both chief justices. It certainly spared the police force and improved their performance. Even today the crime rate in Azad Kashmir is much less as compared to provinces of Pakistan where there is too much status mindedness in the bureaucracy resulting in their inaccessibility to the public.
The Federal Government is often criticized for taking delayed decisions in urgent situations, and simultaneously their abrupt and unplanned decisions which face fate of failure. For example the government could not implement one holiday a week although it was a useful and economical, distribution of free flour to the poorsand other disappointing feature and the supply of subsided petrol without providing proper mechanism.
It is the talk of the town these days that Pakistan, although a nuclear power is being insulted and subjected to undue and unjustified terms by the IMF, and the instance of our enemies. There is always an opportunity in every difficulty. The state should take bold political decisions and get closer to China and Russia, the near and neighboring powers with easy access. Both the said countries are inclined to help Pakistan in the sphere of energy. We have already been subjected to discrimination in case of purchase of energy from Iran whereas India has been allowed to purchase fuel from Iran and Russia while for Pakistan it is tabooed. The IMF has deliberately caused irreparable financial and prestige loss in the comity of nations, besides, in creating instability in the country.
The writer is Retired Additional Chief Secretary of AJK and Advocate Supreme Court of AJK.