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Old Tuesday, August 18, 2009
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Task of implementation


By Shahid Javed Burki
Tuesday, 18 Aug, 2009


WHAT I am writing today is based on personal observations as well as what I have heard from some people. One of the most important problems the country faces today is the inability of the state to provide to the people what they need.

The government seems to know what it should do but seems unable to act; it appears stuck in a groove from which it is finding difficult to get out. Implementation is currently the government’s greatest challenge. I will illustrate this point with three examples.

Let me begin with a personal observation. A few weeks ago my wife and I, having spent two weeks in Pakistan, returned to Singapore to continue work on a book I am writing for the Institute of South Asian studies. We were travelling on a Singapore Airlines flight from Lahore to Singapore.

Our time of departure coincided with that of a couple of other flights destined for a couple of points in the Middle East. I would have thought that handling a few flights within an hour or so should not tax the capacity of a relatively new and modern airport. But that did not turn out to be the case. From the moment we were dropped outside the main verandah of the departure lounge to the point when we reached the sparsely appointed upper class lounge we were in the midst of enormous chaos and confusion.

There were no porters available to help us with our bags so we put them in a trolley and began to move towards the entrance gate manned by half a dozen security officials. It took us an hour to negotiate the few metres of space. Where there should have been one line there were five. Where there should have been only passengers in between the railings that were supposed to regulate those entering the departure area, there was a generous mixture of passengers and those who had come to say goodbye. To say that there was a great deal of shoving and pushing is not to adequately represent the mayhem through which we went.

When we finally got to the point of entry, I asked one of the security personnel why he was just standing there looking bemused. His response was simple and illustrative of the situation that travellers must confront daily. “Yeh dande ki qaum hai,” he said to me and turned his face away indicating that there was nothing more to say or do.

What would it take to sort this situation? A simple but robustly enforced requirement that only passengers will be allowed in between the rails, that they will form one line not several, and that they will not enter the queue wherever they saw a bit of opening would suffice. I am sure one security guard could enforce these simple rules but it would require somebody in authority to ensure that they were observed.

Once lined up in front of the airline desk to get our boarding passes I encountered the same lack of respect for the queue discipline. It was obviously a part of our evolving culture. There was one difference though. This time the airline official was watching the show from behind his counter, refusing to serve those who in his view had beaten the line. This did not particularly please those who had taken the trouble to plough their way to the front.

My second example of governance having gone awry comes from the conversation I had with a senior person of the World Health Organisation who said that in spite of the efforts made by his organisation to have Pakistan prepare itself for the flu epidemic that could take a nasty turn any time, there was no sense of urgency in Islamabad. Several meetings had been held with the health officials but the recommended strategy had not been put in place. According to him Pakistan ranks 139th out of 140 countries in terms of preparedness.

I draw the third example from the work I am doing at the government’s behest on the involvement of the private sector in the development of the economy. At one of our meetings a senior textile mill owner said that he was able to compete with any producer around the globe for the specialised fabrics he produces. In fact 90 per cent of his output went to some of the most demanding buyers. He was required to meet a number of conditions — that the water he used was cycled back into his operations, that his workers were properly housed, and since he employs a large contingent of women, that he provided their children with appropriate education on site. In spite of these requirements, he is able to beat competition.

However, he has a much more difficult time dealing with the small firms who compete with him in the domestic markets. “They don’t pay taxes, steal electricity and water, don’t observe labour laws and have no regard for intellectual property rights,” he complains.

The last point is particularly significant for him. He has a world class design centre but the designs the centre produces for his products get copied within a week and hit the markets soon after he has put out his own. His main plea to us is to persuade the government to ensure that there is a level playing field for all producers, big, small and those in between.

The three examples I have taken from three very different fields point in the same direction. There is a growing disregard in the country for carrying out assigned duties. Security personnel have no interest in ensuring discipline, the private sector is looking for ways to beat the system and government functionaries are casual when it comes to serving the people. What is at the bottom of all this? Perhaps a tolerant culture and an educational system that doesn’t instill in the people the difference between rights and duties.
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