A smaller government

As the federal government’s deficit continues to mount, there has been increasing talk about reducing the size of the government. As with most political debates, however, those calling for such a cut do not offer specifics. The deputy chairman of the planning commission, Nadeemul Haq, on the other hand, seems to have been very specific in his proposal to cut down the size of the government by roughly a third. In a recent speech, he named 123 out of the government’s 411 departments that he feels should be shut down.

Haq was referring to proposals made in a government restructuring report completed in 2008 that identified several government departments that simply duplicate the work done by other departments. In addition, the 18th Amendment to the constitution rendered many departments in the federal government obsolete, having transferred their functions to the provinces.

Haq’s arguments go further. He suggested that by focussing on a smaller number of essential tasks, the government would improve the efficiency and quality of services that it offers to citizens. He urged the government to concentrate on creating conditions for private sector job growth by becoming a more effective regulator, rather than seeking to run businesses that end up becoming a burden on the national exchequer.

Unfortunately, as much as these arguments make sense, we have heard them far too many times before. The only people with the courage to articulate them in public are people like Haq who do not have direct responsibility for carrying them out. We would venture to guess that Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh would agree with most of what Haq said but he seems far too cautious in his approach towards actually implementing the reform proposals. One would hope that a government desperately short on cash will finally muster up the courage to face the hard truth.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2011.