100 Days Of The NS Government: Achievements And Failures
The first hundred days of any government, although can’t be used to measure the government’s performance, but it can help paint a vague picture of what the government has in store for the coming days, or what it is capable of doing. Prime minister Nawaz Sharif came into power on June 5,with the usual vows and promises to revive the economy, eradicate terrorism,put an end to the energy crisis that since long had been eating out the country’s roots and plaguing growth and ushering a new era of prosperity that the country had been deprived of in the previous regimes.
The past 100 days have been a mixture of both good and bad days, with some exceptional decisions, whereas some unpopular one’s were also there. The government was faced with many challenges on various fronts, and what the Nawaz-led government did was chalk out plans for everything. Initially, to tackle the menace of load shedding, the government gradually cleared out the circular debt amounting to Rs 503 billion ( $ 5 billion), which was a major cause of the intensified loadshedding across the country, moreover, a comprehensive plan was chalked out to add thousands of megawatts of electricity into the system, in the form of hydropower projects, renewable energy projects and completing the halted projects that include Nindipur power project, the 969 MW Neelam-Jehlum project and making the current system more dependable, by cutting line losses, theft and upgradation of the system.
The remittances from expat Pakistanis have shown an upward trend, reaching more than 2.6 billion dollars in Jul-Aug 2013, moreover, the government has been able to strike a deal with IMF for a loan worth $6.6 billion, which is imminent for country’s survival. The government has signed several mega projects amounting to more than $20 billion that include mass transit systems in big cities, the Kashgar tunnel project, Khi-Lhr motorway, Gwadar port etc. The government has set out to empower the youth by giving away interest free loans known as ‘Qarz e Hasana’ and loans with a markup rate of only 8% with value of Rs 0.5 million to 2 million, for youth self employment schemes, Rs 20 billion have been set aside for this purpose, which is a good step ahead.
The NS government also seems serious about resolving the problem of terrorism, which has left thousands of civilians and military personnel dead, and in the end nothing has been achieved. So keeping in mind reconciliation, the government called upon an APC ( All Parties Conference) to seek the advice of different political parties in this regard. The APC ended on a good note, with all political parties siding with the government’s stance to carry out talks with militants, without which peace cannot be achieved. Karachi, the country’s financial and economic hub, has been hijacked by extortionists, target killers and different mafia’s who are challenging the writ of the state, whereby creating no-go areas inside the city of 21 million inhabitants; the government initiated a targeted operation against miscreants taking all sides onboard, initially the political parties asked the city to be handed over to the military, but the government decided against it, as it didn’t want to repeat the 92 saga, so the law enforcement agencies which included Rangers and Police were given extended powers to carry out search operations and detain terrorists,another positive step was the initiation of counter terrorism policy and its implementation with all its manifestations, which will slowly bear fruit after it is implemented.
On the negative side, just two months after the circular debt was paid off, there are again signs of it spiralling out of control, with reports of it reaching Rs 100 billion again, the imports have touched new highs, whereas the balance of trade is negative, it’s where the government has to draw a line between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’, the tax collection system of the country is not efficient and the federal board of revenue (FBR) has not been able to achieve it’s target for tax collection for the past many years. There is lack of foreign investment and rampant corruption coupled with worsening law and order situation is a turn-off for foreign investors.
Even our long time tested friend China is cautious about sending in personnel, due to law and order issues, one booming sector that the government can use to generate billions of dollars is the tourism industry, which the government is not paying proper attention towards. Despite worsening law and order situation foreign tourists used to head towards the Northern areas, but the killing of tourists on Diamer face of Nanga Parbat was a big blow for the country, if the government addresses this problem, big bucks can be earned from this sector.
The government is not paying proper attention towards state entities which include the national carrier Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan Railways and Pakistan Steel Mills to name a few, which are on the brink of a melt down, incurring billions in losses. The government has decided to privatize 35 state owned enterprises including the three, in the next three years, which shows it’s inability to turn them into profitable ventures again. While there are several plausible steps on the behalf of the government, there are several which need rethinking and on which the government needs proper advice. Corruption is rampant in every department of the government, unless the government introduces a check-and-balance, it will be a huge hurdle in the economic progress of the country.
The Nawaz-led government has the chance to make it or break it, and it has five full years to prove its mettle, as the people of Pakistan had put their confidence in them, and voted for them against all odds, otherwise they will become part of history, and will never be able to come into power again.
