Any such institution, which involves interests of a large number of citizens of Pakistan, should not be privatised.
KARACHI: This is with reference to the story “Govt to sell state-owned companies, including PSO and Pakistan Steel Mills” (July 18). It may not be the government’s job to do business or make a profit, but it is definitely the government’s job to protect the public interest. Therefore, any such institution, which involves the interests of a large number of citizens of Pakistan, should not be privatised. The new private owner of sold institutions is not likely to have any sympathy for or keep the interest of the public in mind; the new owners’ only interest will be to protect and increase their profit.
The thought that the public interest will be controlled and protected by regulatory authorities has not been proven as various examples are before us where regulatory authorities have been known to take bribes. If the only reason for privatising is the inefficiency of the organisations due to their being in government ownership, then afterwards, we will have to privatise the regulatory authorities also because they are also in government ownership.
Asim Naveed
Published in The Express Tribune, July 19th, 2013.
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