Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, while chairing a meeting to review the work of the Energy Ministry, took the opportunity on Friday to say that the country could not pursue development if the system of the last 70 years still prevailed. For the leader of a conservative party, that was pretty revolutionary stuff. However, that did not stop it from being true. Pakistan has not been served well by its civil servants. The purpose of a permanent civil service is supposed to be a continuity of policy in development, no matter the hue of the party at the helm of affairs. Instead of assisting the rulers, too often the bureaucracy has tried to rule itself. One result has been that the state does not serve the welfare of the people, but merely of government servants. The result is a kind of conservatism that is virtually a freeze.
The problem is not just the existing system, but the fact that its purpose differed from that promised by the leaders of the freedom movement. Before 1947, the purpose was one of control and exploitation. Independence was supposed to end this, and resources were supposed to benefit the common man, not the colonial power. However, instead of a genuine change, natives took over. No longer obliged to exploit the country for the benefit of a colonizer, they went into business for themselves. These elements are diehard conservatives, who oppose a modernization of government, not just on principle, but for ulterior motives.
The government must also take its finger out of its ear, and give civil servants a proper wage. As they say, if you pay peanuts, you will get monkeys. The PM should observe alone the attitude of the government’s permanent employees towards solarization. It is amazing how it is seen as better to opt for generation plants fired by imported fuel, rather than use the cheap power the Almighty has provided through the sun. Considering the hydel and wind-power resources available, it is surprising that the country has any fuel-powered generation, let alone a majority, and an IPP issue that is being used to stop solarization. The hopes that this machinery will allow digitization are forlorn. If the PM wishes to deliver the development people want, he will have to engage in root-and-branch reform, not just tinker with the system.
