The Black Holes of Pakistan

The article The black holes of Pakistan is written by Abid Hasan. In this article writer had identified some major and minor black holes which are destroying the country and creating an image of Failed state. Black holes are natural phenomena scattered in outer space from which nothing can escape. Writer describes the black holes as the Government organizations that guzzle up trillion of rupees of the tax payers. In the last decade the Government of Pakistan has extorted Rs. 16 trillion of Taxes firm, citizen and in addition to that they had borrow of Rs. 6 trillion out of which Rs 2.5 trillion is foreign debt.

MAJOR BLACK HOLES: Three major black holes of Pakistan identified by the writer are: 1. Defense: Pakistans biggest black hole is defense. It has gobbled over Rs. 3 trillion. This money is being used for fighting against Taliban and non state actors. Hundred of billions have been spent on expensive toys procured through very opaque processes. When the military from its core mission it has spend billions on commercial activities and the luxurious life style of senior officers. 2. Public education: The second largest black hole inflicting the country is the public education bureaucracy. In the last decade they had spend close to Rs. 16 trillion. A large part is being paid as salaries of 12 million teachers and other money being used for water latrines or electricity. 3. Subsidies: The third gigantic black hole in the country is Subsidies. About Rs. 12 trillion has been sunk into it. The poor people hardly benefit from it. MINOR BLACK HOLES: Minor black holes of Pakistan identified by the writer are 1. Agencies: Rs800 billion has been consumed by the black hole providing sustenance to law enforcement agencies 2. Health sector: Gobbled up Rs600 billion, with hardly any improvement in the health indicators or access to health care. Pakistans health system is simply not delivering to the poor. 3. Irrigation department: The irrigation department has consumed Rs400 billion in the last decade, where corruption and inefficiencies are widespread. The rural elite get more water than their legal right.

The Black Holes of Pakistan

VITAL ACTIONS: Following vital actions which should be taken are: The military must reengineer itself and reset its priorities. The performance of agencies delivering basic services to the ordinary citizens should be improved through deep civil service and institutional reforms. Living a life of luxury at the expense of the taxpayers needs to be curtailed.

MY VIEW: This article is written beautifully and covers almost the current scenario related to black holes of Pakistan. I totally support his view point about the major black holes. These are the main areas in which our government must take serious actions. Main reasons of creation of these black holes are lack of transparency and accountability at government level. If government keeps check and balance on taxpayers and regulate it in a proper manner then these black holes can be gone astray from Pakistan and itll leads towards a healthy and more productive society. Our countrys image will upraise in the eyes of the world.