Restructuring of the bleeding public sector enterprises (PSEs) has been overdue for months and years to get the state-run organisations overhauled, slimmed and revived so that they could follow the pattern and functioning of the thriving corporate sector.
However, this gigantic task would remain a dream because of the political compulsions of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to offer specialised jobs to its voters, supporters and sympathisers in these PSEs as political bribes, and in the words of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, “under the spirit of politics of accommodation”.
However, former finance minister Dr Salman Shah thinks that the government lacked the capacity and will to reform the PSEs, as it had failed in all fields.
“How a government could reform the public sector entities when the prime minister appoints his political and bureaucratic cronies at top offices. These cronies can’t bring a fundamental change which is a must,” he remarked.
Elaborating his viewpoint, Shah said that in order to revive the Railways, the model of the Motorways should be adopted.
“Like motorways, railway tracks should be allowed to run private luxury passenger and freight trains as is done in the rest of the world. Railway stations should be asked to form economic centres and provide services to the private sector passengers as well. Hotels, restaurants and other facilities should be made available at each railway station,” he said. About reviving the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Shah suggested selling the airline’s shares to the private investors, who should be made members of the PIA’s board of governors with decision-making powers.
Former advisor to United Nations on economic reforms, Umar Masud said the public-private partnership model was the only answer to the misery being faced by the country’s public enterprises.
“In the PIA, the management should give operations to the private sector and in return, the government should bag revenue. As far as the railways are concerned, it should be completely privatised while a regulatory body should look after the affairs of the entity. This would revive the railways as a profit making sector,” he added.
Chairing a special meeting on restructuring the PIA, the prime minister had directed the cabinet committee on restructuring the PSEs to formalise its final recommendations, combining improvements in corporate governance, services and financing requirements. “Business as usual is unacceptable,” the committee was told, however, it was not told whether both the blue-eyed captains who are calling all the shots as managing directors of the PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would be removed and asked to fly planes or not.
Gilani formed a committee comprising Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Cabinet Division Secretary Nargis Sethi, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Khushnud Akhtar Lashari and Defence Secretary Syed Athar Ali. The committee will submit a report to the prime minister within a week outlining a roadmap for making a turnaround in the PIA.
The prime minister said the members of the board of directors would be approved according to the recommendations of the Cabinet Committee on Restructuring.
During the meeting at the Prime Minister’s House on restructuring the Railways, Gilani also ordered the Finance Ministry and the Railways Ministry to guarantee monthly disbursement of salaries and pensions to railways employees.
The finance minister informed the meeting that the financing agreement with the Banking Consortium would be signed within one week for funding the rehabilitation of 96 locomotives at a cost of Rs 6.1 billion. The availability of the locomotives would significantly improve the efficiency of the ailing department in terms of earnings and provision of travelling facilities to the people, the minister hoped. The meeting was also informed that all the non-economical Railways sections would be closed. The minister added that the provision of diesel for locomotives would be ensured and the credit limit from the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) would be doubled to ensure the mobility of locomotives. Keeping in view the government’s efforts, one can easily assess that artificial measures would fall short to revive both the state-run enterprises, and only surgical changes can make these entities profitable units.