Crisis is much deeper
By Shahid Rizvi
The gravity of the crisis in the country is shown by the extent of cooperation offered by the PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto who despite having serious complaints about the engineered elections, about the judgment of the Supreme Court, etc., has offered for all out cooperation to Nawaz Sharif. She has expressed her wish to see the National Assembly complete its term and has supported the “one-thousand-dollar scheme: of Nawaz Sharif. This only collaborates with the fact that the country is on verge of collapse and a national unity is urgently required to save the catastrophe. She has offered her cooperation in political and economic fields.
The fact is that the situation is already a grievous mess. The crisis is not limited to unemployment and dearness. These and other evils are only offshoots of the whole system.
And this whole system rests on what we have been doing since 1947. The results have accumulated, and the ghost is now bent upon the destroy us. The main problem we are facing is that we have no production against abundant money floating in the country. And there is nothing which can immediately generate and increase production against abundant money floating in the country. And there is nothing that can immediately generate and increase production to match with the monetary affluence.
Every step we can take like inviting foreign investment, asking for IMF loans, etc will only add to the problem. For foreign earnings, we have nothing to offer to export except our cotton, rice, and vegetables which are in trouble. Our import needs increasing day by day with developments in the world. Money is coming from Government Printing Press, smuggling etc., and it is going out to private foreign accounts without any compensation to the country’s currency. We take loans allow subsidies on our agricultural products. The main crisis of low production is not being attended to. We don’t have any development of big manufacturing rising from small artisanship and there is no one very less indigenous industry. What we are making is till mostly assembly products.
This has been the state of affairs since 50 years and no one can correct it with a magic wind. The one thousand dollars scheme or any other scheme are a farce and cannot help as it will add to only the damages already done. Nawaz Sharif has said that his priority is to eliminate unemployment and decrease the cost of living. But he does not mention how he will do it.
The present economic system does not recognize and corroborate what Nawaz Sharif said. On the contrary, the prices are still going up on cooking oil, medicines, and other essential items. Other taxes are also sure to increase. There is a big hue and cry about government borrowing and every other person is talking about cutting down the government expenditure. Very strange.
With the increase in the population, there is more need to raise the expenses, employing more people, constructing more building for schools and hospitals, increasing utilities and provide more accommodation to the people. What we are getting is the demand to decrease the budget and employees. Six thousand persons were struck off the rolls of the Water Board. Thousands of others are being thrown out of the job to save money. Would it do any benefit to the people. What sort of economy we have created and are adding to it?
We are said to have a mixed economy- public cum private and are trying to bring in a private-dominated economy. We are afraid of the realities and do not mention that we have a mixed economy of feudal cum importer exporter cum special vested interest cum corrupt sections of the society. We are still unable to levy agricultural tax. There was never a policy chalked out for the development of the manufacturing sector. We always meant assembly when we talked of manufacturing.
The need of the hour is not window dressing, it won’t do. Radical reforms are needed and more sacrifices are demanded from those who have gained most in the past and mostly through unfair means. Don’t make fools of the people by such schemes. Bring out revolutionary agricultural reforms giving land to the tiller. Develop industries and manufacturing without giving any undue concession to the industrialists.
No rebate to businessmen. No subsidies. Then call the nation to stand up to face the situation and make up for the loans, the nation would like to see who is sincere and whose integrity meets the test at this hour when we have only two options-survive or collapse.
