Funds for the military

Rather than simply handing military more money, government should have rigorous oversight to ensure it is well spent.

For many years now, we have been hearing the valid complaint that nearly one-third of the federal budget is taken up by military spending while vital needs like health and education receive only a minuscule amount of money. Now, we find out that the military is swallowing up even more of our money than we ever knew. The government admits that about Rs200 billion per year was given to the military in what was classified as “security-related” funding. The amount was mostly paid through payments made to the government under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) but as the US has become delinquent in releasing these funds, the balance was covered by the government. Eventually, however, the CSF monies came and would have gone into the government’s coffers. That said, once the Americans leave Afghanistan in 2014, the CSF is scheduled to end, so the burden of  “security-related” spending could well fall on the Pakistani taxpayer.



These payments to the military were not made a part of the official military budget, which is still the sacred cow of the budget, remaining closed to debate and scrutiny. Along with other accounting tricks, like leaving pension payments to military personnel out of the military budget, these funds are proof that the military is not satisfied even with receiving 30 per cent of the budget. That the PPP government was not able to reveal the destination of these funds before its term ended is yet another sign that our civilian democracy is simply unable to stand up to the military.

The right thing to do, as suggested by the Planning Commission, is to add this amount to the regular military budget. The hope is that as the percentage of the budget consumed by the military becomes public knowledge, there will be a clamour to reduce the amount given to the all-powerful institution. At a time when austerity needs to be practised to reduce our enormous budget deficit, the largest recipient of government financing needs to tighten its belt. Rather than simply handing the military more money, the government should have rigorous oversight to ensure that the money is well spent.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2013.