Economic COndition of Pakistan

7/29/2019 Economic COndition of Pakistan

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By Baqir Sajjad Syed | From the Newspaper(16 hours ago) 15TH APRIL2011.

ISLAMABAD, April 14: Security cooperation may be the bedrock of US-Pakistanties, but problems in counter-terrorism collaboration will not hold back Islamabad

any further from proceeding with a reset in the relationship with Washington.The only thing I would like to state is that Pakistan attaches immenseimportance to its relations with the US. We have a multi-track engagement withthe US. Law-enforcement and counter-terrorism is one such track, ForeignOffice Spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said at the weekly media briefing onThursday while responding to a number of questions about drones and covertCIA operations in the country.The remarks clearly suggested that Pakistan wanted to move on with therelationship despite issues in security ties.It was only on Wednesday that the Foreign Office had described the continuing

drone attacks as a core irritant in the counter-terrorism cooperation.

The spokespersons comments came ahead of Foreign Secretary Salman Bashirsvisit next week to Washington (April 21-22) where he would discuss many of thethorny issues complicating the relationship and probably try to push the

Americans to correct the fundamentals of their engagement with Pakistan.

Furthermore, Ms Janjuas replies suggested that the government was not readyto adopt a tough stance similar to the one it took last month by pulling out oftrilateral talks with the US and Afghanistan when missiles targeted a tribal jirgain North Waziristan, even though it had lodged a protest with Ambassador

Cameron Munter after Wednesdays Angoor Adda attack.

ISI chief Gen Shuja Pasha was earlier this week in Washington for talks with CIADirector Leon Panetta. Even though an unusual post-meeting statement issuedby CIA said that its relations with ISI remained on strong footing, the droneattack in Angoor Adda suggested otherwise.


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There are now signs that Mr Panetta did not fully accept Gen Pashas wish listthat he carried with him and only agreed on giving limited concessions.

Prior to Gen Pashas trip to the US, Centcom Commander Gen Mattis visitedIslamabad to listen to Pakistani militarys grievances. Sources said that although

the US military was sympathetic to Pakistani concerns, other quarters President Obamas national security team and CIA were proving toughbargainers.

Failing to convince the US to at least provide it a face-saving on the drone warwhich is hugely unpopular in Pakistan, the latest tactic in governments armouryis to expand the debate on drones to other countries to build pressure on theUS to revisit its policy. Obviously as an effort on the part of the government ofPakistan to address this core irritant in the counter-terrorism campaign, thisissue will be discussed with those countries that have an interest in counter-terrorism, Ms Janjua said.

Although she did not specify with which countries Pakistan was interested inraising the matter, talking to reporters after the briefing she hinted that thematter had been discussed with the UK with which Pakistan had recently initiateda security dialogue under the umbrella of Enhanced Strategic Dialogue.

STRAINS WITH IRAN: The spokesperson at the briefing tried to downplay protestby Iran over recruitment in Pakistan for Bahraini defence forces many ofwhom are likely to be used to suppress pro-democracy movement in the Gulfstate.

With Iran, we have very good relations. We discuss all issues in a very friendlymanner, Ms Janjua said while responding to several questions about the Iranianprotest made with Pakistani charge daffairs in Tehran.

Diplomatic sources said the Iranian government, while conveying itsreservations, had categorically stated that continued hiring of retired militarypersonnel by welfare wings of Pakistani military would have serious implicationsfor bilateral ties that are already not in the best of shape because of differencesover regional policies.

Bahrains national guards have recruited about 1000 retired military personnelthrough Fauji Foundation and Bahria Foundation. These are in addition to almost10,000 Pakistanis presently serving in security services of Bahrain.

Ms Janjuas efforts to talk down the Iranian protest coincided with comments byIranian Ambassador Mashaallah Shakeri at a round table discussion in Islamabad


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on situation in the Arab world. He questioned the logic of other countries sendingsecurity personnel to suppress a movement in another country.

But, the envoy, conscious of his diplomatic limitations, made no direct referenceto the recruitment in the host country (Pakistan) for Bahrain.

Even the legitimate government of a country has no right to suppress thedemands of the people. How come the strangers, those who do not belong tothat country they take the troops to suppress the people of another country. Sothis is a big question which the Iranians are raising, Mr Shakeri said.

By Khawar Ghumman | From the Newspaper(16 hours ago) Today

ISLAMABAD, April 14: Minister for Water and Power Naveed Qamar informed theNational Assembly on Thursday that the federal and provincial governmentsowed Rs160 billion to the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco).

In a written reply to a question raised by Nighat Parveen Mir of the PML-N, the

minister said the Sindh government was the biggest debtor with Rs100 billion,including Rs63 billion of the Karachi Electric Supply Company, outstandingagainst it.

He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa owed Rs20.35 billion, Punjab government Rs7.99billion and Balochistan Rs3.84 billion to Pepco.

Receivables of Rs4.6 billion from the federal government have been put underthree heads; departments (Rs1.33 billion), agencies (Rs1.4 billion) and defenceforces (Rs1.8 billion).

The federal government owed Rs4.439 billion under different subsidies; Rs960million for agriculture tube-well, AJK receivables Rs402 million and Rs3.07 billionsubsidy for the agriculture sector in Balochistan.

A separate payment of Rs11.95 billion was due from all provincial governmentsunder the head of agriculture and tube-well subsidy led by the Balochistangovernment with Rs6.1 billion followed by Punjab Rs5.5 billion, KhyberPakhtunkhwa Rs126 million and Sindh Rs47 million.
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He said that during a meeting presided over the finance secretary in January theprovincial chief secretaries were asked to make strenuous efforts for thepayment of dues and the provincial finance secretaries were being pursued forthe recovery from the major defaulting departments.

Mr Qamar said the distribution companies had been made to sign performancecontracts wherein all companies were required to report their progress regardingrecovery of arrears to the ministry of water and power on a regular basis.

On the question of whether the government had written off any payment owedby any department to Pepco, the ministers response was in the negative.

In reply to a supplementary question, he said the recovery of outstanding dueshad been a thorny issue for the past three years but the government waskeeping a consistent pressure on all defaulting departments.

By Kalbe Ali & Aamir Yasin | From the Newspaper(16 hours ago) Today

Majority of the CNG filling stations remained closed in Rawalpindi and Islamabadon the second consecutive day on Thursday. With less public transport on theroad, people faced long waits at bus stops and paid cabs higher fares to reachtheir destinations.

Motorists patiently waited throughout the night and the day outside the CNGfilling stations.

On Thursday Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani directed the ministry to convenea meeting of Gas Load Management Committee on Friday to review the gassupply situation in the country. The prime minister also directed that therepresentatives of `major stakeholders` should be called to the meeting and findsolutions to minimise the problems of the industry and the people.

The stakeholders include All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (Aptma), fertilizerindustry, power plants, Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and
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Industry (FPCCI), Sui Southern Gas Company, Sui Northern Gas Company andthe three CNG associations. In his directive, the premier asked the committee toanalyse the gas shortage situation and `rationalise` distribution to lessenproblems of the people.

The filling stations in Punjab went on an indefinite strike on Wednesday on thecall of All Pakistan CNG Association (APCA) to press the government for endingthe two-day weekly off and unfair gas distribution.

Filling stations owned by the powerful and the oil marketing companies remainedopened at Peshawar Road, Adiala Road, Tulsa Road, Dheri Hassanabad, BakraMandi, Chungi No. 22, Benazir Bhutto Road, Sadiqabad, Rawal Road and BostanKhan Road in Rawalpindi and F-8, F-7, I-9, I-8, G-7 and other parts of the capitalcity. But they could not deal with the demand in the twin cities.

While the strike call has been given by the APCA in Punjab only, the ministry also

called the CNG associations` representatives from Karachi also.

Malik Khuda Bukhsh, chairman of CNG Owners Association, on Thursday heldtalks with Secretary Petroleum Imtiaz Kazi on problems faced by CNG retailersand consumers due to loadshedding. Malik Bukhsh criticised the government forcontinuing the two-day weekly off for the CNG stations, saying the domesticdemand has gone down as heaters and geysers have been turned off. Thesecretary petroleum told him that there would be no gas loadshedding for CNGfilling stations from the end of May.

But only two days back, the ministry had told APCA that the two-day weekly offwould only end after June 30 this year a refusal that led to strike acrossPunjab. The ministry has also invited the CNG Dealers Association of Pakistan,led by Abdul Sami Khan, for discussions today.

Travelling daily between Rawalpindi and Islamabad, commuters, includingstudents and office workers, were seen waiting for private public transport,which remained thin on Thursday.

Raja Riaz, president of Suzuki Owners and Drivers Association, lashed out at thegovernment for not heeding the demands of CNG association, saying the strike

was devastating for their business. Scores of our vehicles are not on roadbecause of unavailability of gas.

Taking advantage of the strike, the cabbies, who got the gas tanks filled at night,charged extra fares from the passengers.

Complaining about the strike, Salman Rasheed, a resident of Westridge, saidfrom Westridge to Saddar, the cabdrivers were demanding Rs120 instead of


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normal Rs50. He said he opted to go on foot instead of paying more than doublefare. But the cabdrivers, refuting claims of overcharging, maintained that theywere running their vehicles on petrol.

Meanwhile, owners of CNG stations on Thursday staged a protest demonstration

at Faizabad. Holding banners and placards, they blocked Benazir Bhutto Road forsome time. A contingent of police escorted the protesters. Dawn

APCA Supreme Council Chairman Ghayas Paracha told that the CNG fillingstations resumed the supply in Lahore, Gujranwala and Multan temporarily.

As Mondays and Tuesdays are weekly off in Multan, Lahore, and Gujranwala,CNG filling stations had been closed there for the last four days. We resumed thesupply for the convenience of people, he said. But in other parts of theprovince, we will continue our strike till the government meets our demands.

About the meeting called by the secretary petroleum, Mr Paracha said it wasabout `other` issues and their demands were not on the agenda. We aredemanding fair distribution of gas and end of two-day weekly off for CNG.

He claimed that almost 90 per cent the CNG filling stations were closed acrossthe province. When his attention was drawn towards the filling stations providinggas, he said the APCA had not forced the petroleum marketing companies toclose their outlets as they were not members of the association.

By Khawar Ghumman | From the Newspaper(16 hours ago) Today

We are really good at making issues out of non issues. Latest on the list is thedevolution of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) under the 18thamendment.

Over the last couple of weeks, politicians, media, civil society and of course theuniversities teachers and students are harping on only one subject HEC should

be devolved to the provinces or kept as a federal entity.

Irrespective of the fact if the people have adequate information about thecontroversy, everybody is taking part in the raging debate as a religious duty,which further muddies the issue. Be it our rabid TV talk show hosts, versatilecolumnists who can deliberate upon anything under the sun, or journalists whomould information on the basis of their biases, HEC remained the hot topic.
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But interestingly all this is happening about a decision which presumably shouldhave been discussed threadbare first by the 27-member ParliamentaryCommittee on Constitutional Reforms (PCCR) and then the ParliamentaryCommission on the implementation of the 18th amendment.

One wonders what the PCCR had been discussing during its some 80 plus formalmeetings if the issues related to the provincial autonomy, mainstay of the muchlauded 18th amendment, remained unsolved. Political parties and media hadendorsed the passage of the 18th amendment.

All members of the PCCR this year on the eve of Pakistan Day have beenbestowed with the highest civil award Nishan-e-Pakistan for cleansing theconstitution of 1973 of aberrations introduced by military dictators.

But to the surprise of many, all hell broke loose the moment the governmentannounced formal devolution of federal ministries and divisions under the

amendment, including the HEC. So much so some of the political parties, whichwere part of the landmark constitutional amendment, also joined thebandwagon. They obviously taking a cue from public response, largely in favourof keeping HEC as a federal body, have started opposing the commissionsdevolution.

Concerns are also being raised over transferring women and culture divisions tothe provinces by pointing out lack of capacity at provincial level to handle them.

But the issue is not that a certain federal department should be run in Islamabad

or managed by the provincial governments. It is the ruckus over the issuedespite the fact that first the PCCR, which had 27 experienced politicians of allhues as its members, and an equally important eight-member bipartisanParliamentary Commission on the 18th amendment implementation haddiscussed to ensure smooth completion of the devolution process. In both cases,Senator Raza Rabbani of the PPP was given the leading role.

Looking at the controversy, it is difficult to understand if the subject wasdiscussed in detail during the PCCR meetings. And if it had been discussed indetail, both by the committee and the commission, and subsequently all politicalparties had given their consent to wrap up HEC, why all this commotion?

Werent the two main opposition political parties in the National Assembly inpicture of what they explained as dire consequences if the HEC is transferred tothe provinces? Or they are only playing to the gallery as described by SenatorRabbani during his hard hitting remarks in the National Assembly in the defenceof HEC devolution.


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Mr Rabbani billed the ongoing controversy a storm in a teacup. But manybelieve it is not. Even the fiercest critics of the HECs performance had supportedits existence.

Vice chancellors committee, a body of heads of 130 degree awarding institutions

both from private and public sectors, have also opposed its devolution. Notgetting into the argument whether the HEC has been given protection in the18th amendment, what was the fun in announcing transfer of a departmentwhich is to be replaced by another similar government body?

It would have been better if Senator Rabbani had sat with the HEC officials anddiscussed setting up of new Standards of Higher Education Commission toreplace the commission. However, like many politicians, he kept on sending hispoint of view on the subject through media. According to media reports, it wason the HEC officials repeated requests the senator spared some time to listentheir concerns. Ideally, this discussion, taking into account all concerns, shouldhave been taken place at the level of the implementation commission.

Lastly, if a public sector body is needed to oversee standardisation of highereducation, as announced by Senator Rabbani, the government should havebrought in required changes in the existing set up, instead of opening aPandoras box, which has virtually taken the country by storm.

Documents

Economic COndition of Pakistan