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Pakistan’s overgrowing population predicament

According to the recently released ‘The 2020 World Population Data Sheet’ Pakistan’s annual population growth rate is 3.6 percent which is highest in the region and if it remains growing at the same pace, it will have double the population in the coming 19.4 years. There is another threat according to which Pakistan will be the world’s fourth most populous country in 2030. The problem of rapid growth in population is like keeping a ticking bomb in hands which can explode at any time because at the same time when the population is growing speedily, the resources in the country are also decreasing. How Pakistan can fulfill the growing needs of its overgrowing population with available limited resources? Consequently, inflation, hunger, dearth of urban facilities, violence, extremism, suicides and criminal activities increase.

Currently, the population of the world has reached seven billion humans and Pakistan is at fifth place among most populous countries with a population of more than 220.9 million. Its 64.9 percent population is rural while 35.1 percent is urban. Every year, the world bears an increase of 83 million humans in its population and in case if the growth rate/trend remains, the projected population of the world will be as 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100. The Asia continent covers 29 percent land of the world and its current population is 4.5 billion which means the world’s 60 percent population lives here and in 2050, this population would reach 5.26 billion.

Growth of population also affects the environment as the more population uses more resources which include land, water, wood, gas, air and other natural resources. A mindful person understands that the earth has limited resources and we have only this one planet to dwell on so if the population remains growing like this, we will face scarcity of these resources in near future.

According to a research of Global Footprint Network ‘If the population remains increasing with this pace and the population remains using the earth’s resources with the same pace then by 2050, we will need three more earths like this to live alive.’ Currently, 800 million humans of the world are facing food insufficiency. UNO has also warned that owing to water scarcity, unavailability of land and inadequacy of beneficial insects, the world will need 70 percent more food by 2050.

Water is life and it is one of the fundamental needs of humans but every human is not so lucky to have easy access to safe drinking water on a daily basis. According to a research of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), ‘By 2050, more than 5 billion humans will be facing water scarcity in the world.’

Family planning is also a basic right of humans but due to the problems like gender inequality, keeping women away from education, employment and decision making, the women are restricted from this right. The only solution to control the overgrowing population of the world is adoption of family planning practice but due to lack of education and mental awareness our society has not been accepting this blessing and for many people it is still a taboo.

In Pakistan, the Population Welfare Department has offices, rural health centers, mobile service units and family welfare centers in every district/sub district of the country which provide free of cost services but hardly people visit those facilities. The Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) is 30 percent in Pakistan which had to be enhanced to 45 percent as per FP Agenda-2020 by the government.

COVID-19 has affected the health sector badly. Up to 22 percent of the world is in danger due to the pandemic. One among every five people is facing health issues globally and the most affected ones are pregnant women. In Pakistan the mortality rate of mothers/pregnant women and infants is very high. According to the State of World Population report of 2019 ‘The maternal mortality rate of Pakistan is at 178 per 100,000 while only 30 percent childbirth cases are attended by skilled birth attendants, midwives or doctors. This is a dilemma of our healthcare system that we have failed to provide proper healthcare facilities to the most neglected gender of the society.

Pakistan has recently surpassed Brazil to become the world’s fifth most populous country and that’s a concern the government should need to think about.’

Pakistan’s child/infant mortality rate at the time of birth is also very critical. 62.2 child die at the time of birth out of every 1000. The blood deficiency in women of age 15 to 44 has also reached a serious stage. The rural women suffer most as 47 percent of women having rural backgrounds are facing blood deficiencies. The major reasons behind such fiasco are lack of adequate food, child marriages, unawareness regarding family planning education and overall lack of access to avail school education.

There are numerous other issues which excite restlessness among masses in this overpopulated world. According to a UNICEF figure ‘In Pakistan, at the time of marriage, 37 brides out of every 100 have age less than 18 years while more than 70,000 girls aging between 15 to 19 die every year during pregnancy or childbirth.’ Pakistan is among top 20 countries of the world where deplorable incidents of child marriages occur most. Sindh province has ‘Child Marriage Restraint Act – 2013’ to overcome this menace but still it tops among all provinces of the country in underage marriages of girls.

Exploding of day by day growing population bombs can only be rendered by mass mobilization and dissemination of awareness of social, political and religious entities regarding adopting family planning techniques among populace. By this way, we would also be able to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) and provide our women with necessary healthcare facilities so that they can make their physical and mental health better for themselves, their families and most importantly for this society.

The writer is a freelance contributor

Pakistan and India friendship benefits
Part 1
Introduction
Pakistan and India, two of the most populous countries in the world, having approximately 1.5 Billion population, have always been under the heat of war and border clashes. Both countries got independence from the British rule in 1947 and divided into two parts where majority laid. The history witnesses three powerful wars, many combat exercises and multi blood shedding clashes on the border lines.
It is a well-said that during wars, no one wins, but both or all sides lose their people, wealth and resources. In the same way, Pakistan and India have also lost too much by fighting with each other on the issues which could be resolved sitting on the desk.

Who presented federal budget for the fiscal year 2020-2021 on the floor of the National Assembly on June 12, 2020?

Ans:

The federal Budget for fiscal year 2020-21 was announced on??

Ans:

1. According to the Transparency International Report 2020, corruption in Pakistan _____ during 2019.
(A) decreased
(B) increased
(C) remained the same
(D) was negligible

2. Pakistan corruption index worsened from 117 in 2018 to _____ in 2019.
(A) 118
(B) 119
(C) 120
(D) 121

3. Who is the current ambassador of Pakistan to the United States?
(A) Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry
(B) Ali Jehangir Siddiqui
(C) Jalil Abbas Jilani
(D) Dr. Asad Majeed

4. On 21 December 2019 Justice Gulzar Ahmed took oath as _____ chief justice of Pakistan.
(A) 23rd
(B) 25th
(C) 27th
(D) 29th

5. As of June 2020, how many amendments have been passed to the Constitution of Pakistan?
(A) 23
(B) 24
(C) 25
(D) 26

ANSWERS: PAKISTAN AFFAIRS MCQS
1. (B) increased
2. (C) 120
3. (D) Dr. Asad Majeed
4. (C) 27th
5. (D) 26

The challenge of national integration

The Quaid was a strong advocate of national integration.

The Quaid was a strong advocate of national integration.

“We are now all Pakistanis — not Balochis, Pathans, Sindhis, Bengalis, Punj­abis and so on — and as Pakistanis we must feel, behave and act, and we should be proud to be known as Pakistanis and nothing else’. Quaid-i-Azam Moham­mad Ali Jinnah said in a reply to Civic Address presented by Quetta Municipality on June 15, 1948.

The challenge of national integration in Pakistan is as old as the history of this country. Formed on an ideological ground with the religion of Islam as its prime source of identity, Pakistan began to face numerous issues of language and ethnicity in its formative phase. Ethnic nationalism began to be in conflict with religion particularly in the then East Pakistan where language movement emerged as a cogent force challenging those who wanted that the country should be governed according to the ideology of Islam rather than language, ethnicity or place of origin. Quaid’s warning that the people of Pakistan should be alert and cognizant from those forces who wanted to plant the seeds of ethnic nationalism and secession made sense.

The Lahore Resolution of March 23, 1940, had called for the establishment of Muslim states in the Muslim majority regions of northwest and northeast. However, that resolution was amended in a convention of all members the Muslim League’s central and provincial councils from all over India in Delhi on April 7-9, 1946, whereby, it was declared that “the zones comprising Bengal and Assam in the North-East and the Punjab, North West Frontier Province, Sindh and Baluchistan in the North West of India, namely Pakistan Zones, where the Muslims are in a dominant majority, be constituted into one sovereign independent state and that an unequivocal undertaking be given to implement the establishment of Pakistan without delay.”

ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD
National integration in Pakistan only emerges in times of natural disaster, national dilemma or an external threat. Once the threat is dealt with, the internal contradictions re-appear.

In a book entitled Sheikh Mujibur Rahman The Unfinished Memoirs (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2012) the reaction of Bengali participants in Muslim League’s convention held in Delhi about dropping the word ‘states’ as mentioned in Lahore Resolution with ‘state’ is stated as: “The resolution that was taken there altered the Lahore Resolution in some ways. Only Mr. Hashim and a few others objected when the word ‘states’ of the previous resolution was replaced with ‘State’ but they were overruled and the emendation was adopted. Scholars can perhaps decide whether this convention had the right to alter the terms of resolution adopted in Lahore in 1940.” It is another story how things unfolded when Pakistan came into existence without Assam, united Punjab and Bengal. Pakistan became a unique state with a geographical distance of more than 1,000 miles between its eastern and western wings with hostile India in the middle. No country in modern history was created by states as in case of Pakistan. Why the challenge of national integration was not taken seriously by the leadership in the nascent state of Pakistan and how feelings of ethnic nationalism permeated particularly in the then East Pakistan? How sense of deprivation deepened in East Pakistan and in the smaller provinces of West Pakistan and why issues which triggered the disintegration of Pakistan were not resolved?

National integration cannot be artificially created but it evolves as a result of a process of social and economic justice along with democratic political pluralism. Cultural, lingual and religious variations exist in many countries of the world but it is the wise and prudent leadership which provides a sense of participation, opportunities for progress and development. In case of Pakistan, after the assassination of the country’s first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, the West Pakistan dominated military-bureaucratic elite along with feudal class and clergy began to propagate the notion of strong centre and used religion to artificially integrate the diverse provinces of the country. But, religion alone cannot be a binding force to integrate dissimilar people of a country as a nation. There are other essential requirements to unite people as a nation like economic progress, human and social development, justice system, rule of law, political pluralism, non-discriminatory policy of state by providing equal opportunities regardless of religion, caste, race, language, gender and place of origin. The absence of such requirements cannot transform people of a country as a nation but can cause ethnic, racial, lingual, religious and sectarian polarisation.

The Soviet Union under the communist ideology tried to form a Soviet man and woman keeping in mind diverse ethnic and lingual contradictions in that country. But, that policy failed because it was based on top-bottom approach and imposed on people in a superficial manner. United States, which has numerous lingual and ethnic variations has to a large extent succeeded in creating American man and woman because of a policy pursued at the grassroots’ level in a democratic set-up particularly its uniform educational system. India, the neighbour of Pakistan has hundreds of languages, several cultures and religions but has been able to prevent disintegration because of its democratic political system as neither the military nor any ethnic gro­up is allowed to dominate a multi-cultural and multi-religious society.

Pakistan’s dilemma of national integration needs to be examined from three different angles. First, Pakistan came into being as a result of an accord reached between the Muslim majority regions of North West and North East of the Indian subcontinent. That accord was the result of a demand which was made through Lahore Resolution of March 23, 1940, and then reiterated in Muslim League’s convention in Delhi held in April 1946. Two-nation theory was the essence of the creation of Pakistan as the founder of the country and his colleagues in the Muslim League realised that in an undivided India with a Hindu majority, the Muslim minority will not be able to live as equal citizens.

Unfortunately, after the creation of Pakistan, religion which was the bond trying to integrate the nascent state became weak as economic and political exploitation of the majority province of East Pakistan and the smaller provinces of West Pakistan under the system of one-unit and parity unleashed the process of ethnic and lingual nationalism. Second, democracy, rule of law, justice system and good governance which shou­ld have been the essence of the new state of Pakistan went into obli­v­ion. Democracy became the first casu­alty because of military-bureaucratic nexus to seize power through unconstitutional means. Back to back imposition of martial law and military takeover diminished hopes to transform Pakistan as a viable nation state.

Ironically, feelings of Pakistani nation only surfaced at the time of an external threat or natural disaster. Be it 1965 war or the recent terrorist attack at Pulwama, surge of nationalistic feelings among the people of Pakistan helped to unitedly deal with issues threatening survival of a country. Earthquake of October 2005 and the terrorist attack on Army Public School, Peshawar on December 16, 2014, also united the people of Pakistan. But, once such threats receded, Pakistan’s internal contradictions in the form of political polarisation and ethnic/lingual discords reappeared. It is yet to be seen what will be the duration of current spell of national harmony and unity in the wake of Indian threat or once the threat fades, will the country revert back to political schism, inter and intra-provincial disharmony?

Third, national harmony and integration requires ownership of the land, resources, good and bad things of a country. Except few exceptions, the history of Pakistan is full of episodes which reflect lack of ownership. Nations are not created by mere slogans but through sheer hard work, integrity, brilliance, planning and statesmanship of the leadership. Unfortunately the menace of corruption, nepotism and bad governance tends to reflect the lack of ownership of the country as majority of the people, including those representing various state institutions are interested in protecting their personal, community, clan or group interests than the interests of the country as a whole. The tendency to find faults with the country and not doing anything to remove things which cause social, economic, political and governance crises means the lack of ownership.

Furthermore, the propensity to seek and explore migration as an option so as to achieve a better life abroad means lack of responsibility and commitment to put things in order. Pakistani diaspora, which reflects brain drain from the country is more than 10 million as their migration means to a large extent the failure of state to fulfil essential needs of citizens like clean and safe drinking water, better education, equal employment opportunities, housing, public transport, health and basic security. Even after the induction of the new government in 2018, the migration of people abroad has not stopped and the brain drain continues. Lack of ownership with the resources and public institutions means there is absence of commitment for the country.

The failure of national integration in creating Pakistani man and woman has much to do with dysfunctional educational system of the country which is unable to provide equal opportunities to children to seek basic quality education. In the absence of a uniform educational system, particularly in terms of curricula and mode of education, one cannot expect the youths of Pakistan, who are around 50 per cent of the population, to seek attachment with the land, values, culture, history and other characteristics of the country. It should be state’s responsibility to provide free, compulsory and quality education to all the citizens of Pakistan till high school regardless of their class, language, sect, religion and place of origin.

Those wielding power and other stakeholders in Pakistan who are living in their comfort zones, it is their responsibility to examine and analyse how in other countries having diverse cultures, languages and religions, the process of national integration was unleashed and reached to its logical conclusion. Unless there is political will, determination along with honest, clear and a visionary leadership, one cannot expect a country to remain united and integrated as a nation.

In case of Pakistan, the situation is perplexed and rather challenging because it was created as a state like Israel on religious grounds. While Jews from all over the world reached their new homeland along with different cultures and became a majority in a land which was earlier called as Palestine, in case of Pakistan, those who had migrated from India with a common language Urdu were a minority as local people living in a new state already had their established languages and cultures. Therefore, for national integration, whether in case of the United States or India, language was not a major issue as English and Hindi, which were the languages of dominant groups in the two countries were adopted. In case of Pakistan, Urdu was declared as a national language despite the fact that it was not the mother tongue of the majority and was considered only as a lingua franca. As a result, conflict over national language emerged in the formative phase of Pakistan when Urdu was rather imposed on the then East Pakistan. Although, in 1956, Bengali was given the status of a national language along with Urdu, the damage was done and Bengali nationalism became a major force culminating into the disintegration of Pakistan in December 1971. The post-1971 Pakistan failed to learn lessons from the trauma of separation as language riots in Sindh broke out when Sindhi was declared as a language of the province by the Sindh Assembly in July 1972. Urdu is a mode of communication and is the language of the provinces of Balochistan, KPK and Punjab yet, it is not the mother tongue of 90 per cent of the people of Pakistan.

It is not only language which matters as far as national integration is concerned but tolerance and acceptance of each other regardless of variation in culture, class and religion also matters. Biases on ethnic, cultural, lingual, religious or sectarian grounds can never lead to political or economic stability. Pakistan’s predicament is prejudices and intolerance on the basis of language, place of origin and sect still persists. For instance, in a TV channel interview, prominent nuclear scientist and the father of Pakistan’s atomic bomb Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan bluntly talked of the alleged prejudices he had faced. When people start identifying themselves with their language, culture, religion and sect and not with the country, one cannot expect national integration to take place. When lingual and ethnic consideration undermines merit in appointments and promotions, that country can never emerge as a unified nation.

Many countries face the challenge of national integration but in some cases their leadership is able to integrate diverse people by ensuring social justice, tolerance, rule of law, good governance and democratic pluralism. Pakistan’s quest for national integration would remain elusive unless the bottom-top approach is adopted where a sense of belonging to the country evolves at the grassroots’ level. Care for the resources of the country and pursuing a tolerant approach vis-à-vis those who are different in race, language, class, religion and sect will go a long way in promoting what is called as “Pakistaniat.” Promoting the culture of merit instead of favouritism and nepotism is also the essence to achieve the goal of national integration.

Furthermore, no mode of communication can effectively promote national integration as railways because people belonging to different provinces and regions travel together and share their language, culture and way of life. In a nutshell, an insecure state will patronise a particular class or an ethnic group in order to sustain its hold over power but will not be mindful to the damage done to the country by pursuing such a policy.

The writer is Meritorious Professor of International Relations and former Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Karachi.

Budget 2020-21: Higher taxes on spending, no new income tax
SAMAA | Samaa Money
Posted: Jun 12, 2020 | Last Updated: 4 hours ago
samaa
All eyes were on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government at it unveiled its second annual budget in the National Assembly on Friday as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic, locust invasions and first economic contraction in 68 years.

Federal Industries and Production Minister Hammad Azhar presented the budget in a session chaired by Speaker Asad Qaiser. Prime Minister Imran Khan attended the session too.

Here are some of the key features of the budget:

The government has set the budget amount at Rs7,294.9 billion.

The federal budget for the financial year 2020-21 will have a deficit of Rs3,500 billion.

To provide relief to the people, there is no new tax in the 2020-21 budget. There will be no tax on coronavirus and cancer diagnosis kits and the import taxes on kids food supplement and diet food have been abolished too. Tax exemption is being given to overseas Pakistanis over the investment in saving bills, and the advance tax on auto rickshaws, motorcycle rickshaws and up to 200cc motorcycles has been abolished.

The sales tax rate for big retailers has been decreased from 14 to 12 %. The decision was taken to facilitate them because of the coronavirus outbreak.

The government has allocated Rs208 billion for the Ehsaas Programme for the alleviation of poverty and helping the poor.

The funds for higher education have been earmarked at 34 billion, while Rs 180 billion will be spent on energy, food and other sectors.

Funds worth Rs30 billion will be spent on the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme which aims to build 10 million houses for the poor in Pakistan.

Pakistan Railways will be given Rs40 billion and Rs13 billion have been allocated for the federal government-run hospitals in Karachi and Lahore.

The welfare fund for the artistes has been increased to Rs1 billion from Rs250 million on the recommendation of the president.

For the health sector, the government has allocated Rs20 billion, while Rs20 billion for science and information projects.

The government has allocated Rs70 billion for combatting the coronavirus and other disasters and Rs80 billion for special economic zones.

This year, Pakistan has allocated Rs70bn for water projects.

Pakistan’s Defence budget for 2020-21 is Rs1.289 trillion (almost 12% higher than last year’s).

Now, people will have to show their CNICs while making a purchase of over Rs100,000. Earlier, this was applicable on Rs50,000 purchase.

The government has reduced the federal excise duty on cement from Rs2 to Rs1.75 per kilogramme.

To counter the impact of climate change, Rs6 billion will be spent.

The government will also be spending on development projects in special areas. Forty billion rupees will be spent in Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir, while Rs48 billion on merged districts.

The federal excise duty will be increased on e-ci******es. The FED on imported ci******es, ‘bidi’, and ci**rs has been increased to 100%, it was 65% before. The tax on cigarette’s filter rod has been increased from Rs0.75 to Rs1.

The FED on caffeine-related products is being increased from 13% to 25% to discourage their use. Excise duty has also been imposed on double cabin pick-ups.

The FED on cement has been reduced by 25 paisas to Rs1.75.

The FBR has set his revenue target at Rs3,900 billion this year. It is recommended that regulatory duties are decreased to stop the smuggling of products.

The members of the Opposition staged a protest while the budget was being presented. They chanted slogans over the sugar crisis inquiry and sacking of Pakistan Steel Mills employees.

Photo: Members of the opposition stage a protest against Budget 2020-21. Photo: SAMAA TV
Here’s what the government has done so far

The world is facing a difficult time because of the coronavirus. Pakistan is also affected by it. It hurt Pakistan’s effort to stabilise the economy, said Azhar. Lockdown, travel restrictions and other things have hurt the GDP growth rate and business. In 2019-2020, all the industries and businesses were hurt and there was a decrease of Rs3,300 billion in the GDP and the government’s non-tax revenue decreased by Rs 12 billion.

The government announced a package during the coronavirus pandemic. Rs100 billion were allocated for electricity and gas bills and Rs50 billion was allocated to provide relief to the farmers.

The government reduced the price of petrol by Rs42 per litre and of diesel by 47 per litre.

“When our government came in 2018, we were facing an economic crisis,” said Azhar. “There was no increase in exports in the past five years of the last government.”

We introduced the national tariff policy that helped Pakistani products in the international markets. Our government tried to implement the FATF action plan. “We introduced reforms in the police. We had fully implemented 14 points of the FATF action plan.”

The PTI government is bent on rooting out corruption and reviving the economy. “We trust our nation and look forward to their cooperation in meeting our set targets,” said Azhar while taking the floor of the National Assembly.

10-06-2020

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*Varsity online classes*

It is great experience to conduct classes online.I think if all students get equipped with an Internet device and connection most of us would love to continue taking online classes even in normal circumstances.

It is true that students get lecture plans, slides,videos and all course related material through LMS which will enrich their learning.Live interaction through online classes provides greater chances of productive discussion and discourse.

It also benefits students financially reducing the living and travel expenses.

Digitisation improves the outcome in many perspectives so is the online learning. However, it is a trend in our country that every innovadon,every positive change is resisted by some elements who are either incapable of coping with the change or have vested interests.

Having said that, we understand that there are some genuine cases where there are signal problems and the government, Higher Education Commission and universities will collaborate to ensure network access in every nook and corner of the country.

During our study at Nottingham, we observed the University of Nottingham had educational alliance with Dell, which used to provide laptops with alluniversity-related software installed, and discounted charges were included in the admission fee.

Information technology has become an integral part of learning and we are just starting to initiate this integration, thanks to Covid-19. It is indeed a good change and all of us need to strive to make it stable and consistent.

Prof(Dr) Azhar Ali Shah Pro-Vice Chancellor Sindh University Campus L arkana

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Parliamentary scrutiny?


VERY few people realise that the budget for the next financial year (2020-21) will, for the first time since the adoption of the 1973 Constitution, be presented under a new law called the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), 2019, instead of the stopgap arrangement of following the rules made by the president of Pakistan. Article 79 of the Constitution required parliament to f rame a law to regulate the public accounts of the federation. But 47 years went by without parliament framing such a law, and the presidential rules, by default, filled the vacuum as provided for in the Constitution.

Ironically, very few legislators and even fewer mediapersons or political parties seem to be aware of the passage of such a law because the PFMA was quietly slipped into the Finance Bill, 2019, and while legislators were busy debating the budget, the law was passed along with the Finance Act, 2019. Despite the irony, the cause of parliamentary scrutiny of public finances inched forward with the passage of the law. The struggle for an effective parliamentary scrutiny of the budget framed by the executive is far from over but one must acknowledge a step forward.

The PFMA has many useful aspects only if parliamentarians are able to make proper use of them.

For example, the budget strategy paper which until recently was a jealously guarded document known only to a chosen few in the Finance Division and the federal cabinet, is now required to be not only discussed with the parliamentary committees on finance in the Senate and the National Assembly but also to be published on the Finance Division`s website for the benefit of the general public as well.

This document is supposed to contain mediumterm (three years) forecasts on a rolling basis. The first year of the forecasts will form the basis of budget 2020-21, while the other two years are provided for the improved predictability of resources.

This paper, required to be prepared by mid-March every year, is an important tool for parliamentary oversight of the executive`s financial master plans.

It is easier to read through the document as it isonly 20 or so pages long.

By mid-March this year, the Finance Division had discussed the paper with at least the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and a copy was uploaded on the division`s website. Sadly, key contents of the paper may have already become outdated because of the fast-changing reahdes of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ideally, the government should have updated the paper and discussed with the parliamentary committees afresh but one must recognise the nature of the moving targets of the economy which might have made this exercise difficult, if not impossible.

Another interesting feature of the PFMA covered in Section 34 of the Act, makes it compulsory for the federal government to place the mid-year review reportbefore the National Assembly by Feb 28 each year. This is a significant breakthrough as the legislature never knew in the past how the budget was being executed and what the status of revenues and expenditures was until the next year`s budget was presented. The Finance Division submitted the current financial year`s mid-year report to the speaker of the National Assembly on Feb 21, a week before the deadline set in the law. It is not clear whether the parliamentarians discussed the report in their plenary or during the meetings of the Standing Committee on Finance. It would be unfortunate if parliament just received the report and made it a part of the record without scrutinising it or calling the Finance Division`s senior officials for briefing and answering questions.

It would be far more useful for the National Assembly to receive and critically examine the year-end government performance monitoring report which is promised under Section 35 of the Act. This report will, however, not be available till end of 2022 when the first performance monitoring report for the financial year 2021-22 will be presented after which the report will be presented every year within six months of close of the financial year. This and other reports to be submitted by the government to parliament will be useful only ifparliament and its committees are willing and equipped to undertake their much-needed oversight function in an ef fective manner.

Traditionally, the committees have not been very active in the context of oversight of the executive. As a pilot, the finance committee should be provided the necessary resources to hold the government accountable for its financial policies and discipline. The committee should, in the meantime, network with a number of independent economists and think tanks and hold public hearings on the mid-year budget development report and the year-end government performance report to enable itself to communicate parliament`s feedback to the government.

It is ironic that while the executive is taking initial steps to present its performance before parliament, the latter itself is not moving in that direction. A key reform that is urgently needed is that the Finance Bill, like all other bills laid before the National Assembly, should be referred to the finance committee for detailed examination before it is debated and passed in the plenary. The National Assembly should also extend its period of budget scrutiny and debate from the present average of 14 days to around 45 days so that the demands for grants of various ministries and divisions can be forwarded to the concerned committees for detailed scrutiny.

At some point, Article 84, which apparently allows the executive to alter the budget approved by the National Assembly in any way it deems fit during the year without prior approval by the Assembly, should be amended. The executive`s unbridled powers to alter the approved budget runs counter to the basic principles of democracy and the sooner we get rid of this embarrassing provision in the Constitution, the better. � The writer is president of the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency.