Pakistan

Bureaucrats’ perks in jeopardy: No more rides on taxpayers’ expense

Govt mulls ban on purchase of vehicles for development projects.

Shahbaz Rana June 08, 2011

ISLAMABAD:

In a bid to discourage misuse of transport facilities by top bureaucrats, the government is considering a ban on the purchase of vehicles by project directors of development schemes, says a senior government official.

The move, in addition to monetising transport facility to officers from grade 20 to 22, could save billions of taxpayers’ rupees in the long run, the official adds.

Finance ministry spokesperson Rana Assad Amin said the ministry was considering a proposal for the cabinet to ban purchase of cars for the development projects. According to a Planning Commission official, many projects are either approved, or their implementation delayed, due to two key benefits – the hefty perks and privileges to project directors and the facility of using cars at taxpayers’ expense.

Amin said a ban on purchasing new cars for ministries and divisions is estimated to save Rs1.6 billion in the next financial year.

He added that monetisation of cars, subject to approval by the federal cabinet along with budget 2011-12, will be effective July 1, 2011.

Lawmakers abusing taxpayer money

The office of the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) recently disclosed glaring instances of misuse of transport facility by lawmakers including Chairman Senate and the communication and interior ministers.

The AGP office informed the Public Accounts Committee that former chairman Senate Muhammadmian Soomro and present chairman Farooq H Naek had been using four luxury cars, against an entitlement of one.

The Communication Minister was found guilty of using nine, and the interior Minister of using four luxury vehicles, including three of the Federal Investigation Agency that falls under interior ministry, as disclosed by Director-General Federal Audit Syed Gulzar Hussain.

Bureaucracy perks

The Planning Commission recently revealed that the government spends an average of Rs530,000 per month on every grade 22 officer – an amount that does not include cost of privileges like plots, land and membership to elite social clubs.

The commission proposed that monetisation of perks and privileges would significantly reduce the burden.

According to the finance ministry, as many as 1,391 officers are working in federal government in grades 20 to 22.

The government would offer them Rs40,000 to Rs70,000 as transport allowance and withdraw the facility of offering cars.

The bureaucrats would be offered to purchase cars in their use at depreciated prices that are being determined by a cabinet committee.

The officers, Amin said, will have to respond before July 1, adding this is just the beginning of monetisation of all perks and privileges.

Meanwhile, to avoid misuse cars by project directors of development schemes, Amin said the government will ask AGP to conduct a special audit to avoid abuse of this facility.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2011.

COMMENTS (39)

Sahir Sheikh | 13 years ago | Reply Bureaucrats know on whose money they relish with the perks, donor agencies', who pays taxes in Pakistan after all, unless audited by FBR.

Ahmed | 13 years ago | Reply Kasim have you ever driven a BMW. they come in all price ranges. my borther in law and my sister inlaw each one one and do does my best friendThey are as low as $52,000 dollars to as much as $200,000. Pakistani military offiers get the loaded ones that are higher end. Add transportation, import duties, local sales tax etc, the most expansive BMW will cost around 4 crore Rupees in Pakistan. THESE ARMY OFFICERS MAKE THREE TIMES AS MUCH AS IN CORRUPTION. Pakistani army and Pakistani army investments (askari and fauji, baharia foundations) are notoriously famous for overinvoicing projects, armaments, military jets, and other hardware. Atleast a billion dollars per year is siphoned off in corruption. Since bangladesh government made their army tootless, their economy is growing at twice the rate of Pakistan, eliminating (or reducing powerty) at a fast rate, Their spending on educatio nis twice that of Pakistan. Stop defending our army. They created taliban, they destroyed wome',s rights under Zia, that till now ate over $80 billion of Pakistanis hard earned money. If that money would have gone into infrastructure and education, Pakistan would have resembled Korea or Malaysia..

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Capt. Ali | 13 years ago | Reply @Mahmood: The schedule is meant to show what is allocated for them, not to mention the excess they get approved from the Cabinet division and the Prime minister himself.

Faheem | 13 years ago | Reply @Uzair Javaid: For your kind information, Pak Navel Chief enjoys not ordinary but BMW 7series 'Armored Vehicle' and that costs around 7.6million!!

Yousuf | 13 years ago | Reply Nothing in jeopardy here. They will take the allowance. Wont return the cars and drivers. And if it really comes down to it..they will set the price of luxury cars the same as bicycle and buy it from the govt.

Mirza | 13 years ago | Reply @Kazim: I apologize to all for my typo. I thought the BMW was 0.8 crore and I missed the dot. Typing at night in old age can do that to us. But the idea was clear and most people got that and took it as humor and or typo. The more important thing is in most countries of the world, the army officers do not rule the country, they serve it, hence called services. Most of us have no problems with the soldiers who are trying to make an honest living and not a part of the loot. It is the high officials and ISI who have made an empire within poor Pakistan. In a country like US and the West, most doctors make a lot more money and have higher status and respect than say a colonel. A typical specialist doctor makes more money and enjoys higher status in society than a general in US army. Pakistani army and their families are like colonial power, not responsible to the bloody civilians. They have spread a culture of hate against civilians. In the USA the house of representative and senate can call any general and grill him in public. No such thing as closed door discussions. The army officers are there to listen and act, not think or plan against the govt. A member of assembly is chosen by the people whose opinion is supreme in any country. We can always "not elect" an assembly member but not the rouge generals who have not done anything positive in the history of Pakistan. How many civilian govts no matter how bad they have been threw 60 judges with their families in detention? How many civilian govts. have surrendered half of the country and hid the reports? How many civilians have successfully committed multiple acts of high treason and captured power for decades? I can keep going but you get the point, I am sure. USA had the worst president in G. Bush. But we the opponents had a hope that he would be there only for 4 years, if not he cannot be there for more than 8. We certainly got rid of him with patience for 8 years. Even though he did lot of damage to the country, but he was always Mr. President and nobody dared talk about overthrowing him or changing him. It is not an accident that America is so politically stable, rich and powerful! Regards,

Mahmood | 13 years ago | Reply @Uzair Javaid: See this link,http://www.finance.gov.pk/budget/abs1112.pdf...Scedule 2 item number 2. The total expenditure current on cabinet Division is 2805 Million means 280.5 crores per year and multiply by 5 , it will become 1402.5 crores . from where did you bring 9000 crore figure? hatred can not be hidden under figures!

Mahmood | 13 years ago | Reply @Uzair Javaid: Do All MNAs come from Gwader as quote 'Traveling concession ( Rs.8 per km): Rs.48,000 (For a visit to Islamabad & return: 6000 km'. is equal to that place only!

Abbas | 13 years ago | Reply Well i m surprised how quickly they realised ths wastage on tax payers money. all such wastage in past should also be recovered from those who mis used and an IMMIDIATE BAN should be put on this instead of only considering it.

Khurram | 13 years ago | Reply This reports has another side that in this current financial crisis of the Government its another chance for BABOOS (Bureaucrats) to get 40,000 to 70,000/- as conveyance allowance and pocket the same, even then they could not return the vehicles to the government and get the allowance in routine. All officers have atleast 4 to 5 vehicles which use by their families are relatives even they have driver for each vehicle. Their perks in not jeopardy but taxpayers are in jeopardy.! Its all about bureaucracy !

Aamer | 13 years ago | Reply @Uzair And the figure of 1million, as confirmed by the Dewan Farooq worker here, is as laughable as it can be, tell me does the manufacturing of a BMW 5-series costs only 10lakhs? Are you kidding me? Go to any website and you would see the base price of a used BMW 5-series 2007,2008 to be no less than $36000 in good condition ofcourse. Thats 3.4million, duty and taxes of GOP, transport to Karachi port is excluded.

Aamer | 13 years ago | Reply @Uzair Javaid, The Naval chief came in a convoy of 3 cars not just one, he had with him a 7-series BMW, followed by a 5-series BMW followed by a Land Cruiser. And needless to say even if they are exempted from tax, they are still causing a loss to this government by not paying the taxes and duties on the cars.

Realist. | 13 years ago | Reply The government would offer them Rs40,000 to Rs70,000 as transport allowance and withdraw the facility of offering cars. ^ that's taxpayer's money as well.

Arsal | 13 years ago | Reply @Uzair Javaid: dear bro the real comparision should be between the equivalent officers of Civil setup and military setup....politicians do not fall in the category of civil or armed forces servants.....politicians could be compared with other Constitutional figures like Judges of Supreme Court etc.... that would be a fair comparison.....law makers and public servants are differnt categories altogether.....and please by no means i am defending the current political setup as it is a very shameful set of representatives I am referring to what should be and not what is....

khan | 13 years ago | Reply A DIG lives in my street, he has four luxury cars parked at his home, one is parked outside in a empty plot, one is Toyota Parado, one 2010 Toyota Corolla, two 2010 Hilux, one Suzuki Cultus...plus he has 5 to 7 men guarding his home 24/7, two cooks, one gardener, one sweeper, two drivers, one painter...i guess how much would this cost and why is he being paid for these privileges....

Uzair Javaid | 13 years ago | Reply @Uncle J: Brother my point was duty. If the ex-company price is 40million, the state purchases that for not more than 5million. But YES. You are absolutely correct about Noman Bashir being a legitimate person for having that car his ride. He does not deserve that at all. He should have been sacked!

1Pakistan | 13 years ago | Reply Hey Guys, let alone naval chief and his car. Doesn't matter how much it costs. I would not even let him sit in a Suzuki Mehran bought from taxpayers money. He actually doesn't deserve to be the naval chief. I was surprised to see the confident way he was sitting in press conference. I didn't notice any shame on guilt. Why do forces gets everything subsidized when they get half of our budget? We focus on bureaucrats and politicians but these forces are real issue. Whenever things seem to settle down our forces and special army initiates an expedition. I am really sorry for the Kargil war which was an army stunt and we had so many army personnel killed for nothing. Guys focus our rotten forces. Send them back to barracks and never let them interfere in any civil issue. God bless Pakistan.

parvez | 13 years ago | Reply Please read the article carefully it uses the words ' has proposed ' and ' is considering '. Lets not delude ourselves into believing that something positive will come out of this.

S Khan | 13 years ago | Reply This is not the first time the gimmick is played, every GOVT used this to fool People of Pakistan Rember Junejo limited Max 1600 CC for few top in GOP others were only allowed 1000 CC now this is History I can recount number of times this is played out to fool people.

Uncle J | 13 years ago | Reply @Uzair Javaid: The naval chief's BMW was NOT a 5 series. It was a 740Li. Ex-factory price of this vehicle is approximately 4 crores. Considering the way Noman Bashir conducted the press briefing, I'm surprised he was cleared to become an officer in the armed forces let alone the chief of the navy. What good service has he done for this country except for 3 attacks on navy buses, and 1 attack on Pakistan's largest naval base? Does he still deserve to travel in exuberant luxury? If justice had its way in Pakistan, he would've been discharged from service with dishonour.

SK | 13 years ago | Reply now not only that these govt functionaries will get Rs. 70,000 for transport but will also retain the same damn transport they already have without authorization. Any new rules can only be effective if implemented, in this case people will take the money right away but will not leave currently possessed cars since no one will dare force them to

A J Khan | 13 years ago | Reply Bureaucrats are the true enemies of Pakistan. Bureaucrats create poverty through corruption. Poverty creates extremism and extremism promotes voilence.

Aqeel | 13 years ago | Reply Salaries should be reduced every year . The perks can be given but not luxurius , like a normal car with a single policeman can be given . Our government is devaluing money because they dont have money . But why to put the burden on hard working people who not even get enough wages or now a days even work . Why not think strategically which is the job of Assembly and senate. Why not take a little money from the state bank and investing in power sector , mining coal and selling it in the world market , mining iron ore at what ever purity is available in our county , investing and setting up small and medium size industries . Why not build our Bulldozers , Electricity Generators etc . And to Build Large Dams . Why to take loans from IMF or ADB or World Bank . We should Finance the Large projects on 5 to 10 year basis , paying a small amount each year to the contractors . We should create jobs , because money is not created by just printing it , it has to be given value in Bullion or by a working Labour force. Thank you for reading .

Taxed | 13 years ago | Reply Great start! Today I am not going to crib and cry like the comments given above and just be happy

Saba Imran | 13 years ago | Reply @Uzair Javaid: Yes! working for Dewan motors, i confirm the figure you quote for a BMW. The military and diplomatic mission also buys from us. They are all exempted from taxes, customs and duties

Saba Imran | 13 years ago | Reply Pleaseeeeee withdraw everything that this government enjoys on my money!

Hiba Khan | 13 years ago | Reply Yes!! I dont want to pay or be part of the people who fund the ride that our PrimeMinister enjoys with hundreds of cars following him for nothing.

Saleem Merchant | 13 years ago | Reply The exorbitant perks that Rahman Malik, Babar Awan, Pervaiz Ashraf, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Firdaus Ashiq Awan, Shahbaz Shareef, Nawaz Shareef etc enjoys are far beyond to that of any other institution government pays for from the pocket of the civilians. The Court should withdraw all luxury from these inept American stooges.

Haris Iqbal | 13 years ago | Reply Naval chief should be kicked out and his BMW impounded for auction to general public, I would love buying a duty free car =D

Kazim | 13 years ago | Reply @ Mirza: you seem kidding bro =P BMW is no more than 6-7million with the recent duties imposed on luxury vehicle, this month. As far as i know forces are government institution and are exempted from tax and custom duties, so it wont be much for the BMW you point to. Point is we need to ask the government whose ministers use bullet proof cars that are in actual more than Rs30million.

ahmed juneid | 13 years ago | Reply Mr Mirza is 110% correct.Army officers are also responsible for such mess.Pakistan army delebratly targets specific areas which are sensitive in nature (eg kashmir,attacks in india,attacks in pak etc) in order to destabilize the country and give an impression to the civilian govt that pak is in danger and with the help of that keep on enjoying the luxury of BMW etc.

Light | 13 years ago | Reply Just do it.. for God's sake just do it rather only consider it...

Danish Usmani | 13 years ago | Reply The ministers, MPAs, MNAs along their PM and President should all use their own wealth to maintain a fleet of car that stretches for than a Km when you see them passing by on any highway. Army at least provides us with something giving their own lives when in field, they deserve at least a house that is not lavish as to what we see occupied by a Minister, MNA or a MPA. Though i am of the opinion that military forces should also give away their perks to save money.

Arsal | 13 years ago | Reply I second the opinion of Mr. Mirza....the decision should be across the board and on the vertical as well as horizontal axis.....not only cars for BPS20-22 but all the facilities provided in kind to any and all employess from BPS 01-22 should be monetised.....this would result in effective management of resources....aur sub se bari baat logon ko bachat ki aadat paray gi.....sarkari maal to maal e muft hota hai aur us k liye dil e beraham her dum tayyar hota hai

Uzair Javaid | 13 years ago | Reply @Mirza: LOL. The BMW you refer to was 5series costing no more than a million rupees because defence purchases are exempted from Tax and duties. Even if it wasn't exempted, a BMW 5 series is no more than Rs.8million in the market.

Uzair Javaid | 13 years ago | Reply @Mirza: No doubt you are right about the abolition of perks from the armed forces as well. But I dont see a brigade of workers at a general's residence. According to the army regulation, a General is entitled to a transport vehicle, a chef, operator and a batman(battery man). The residence at max stretches on a 605square yard house. This standard is not recently introduced, it is that of what the British left here. Many of the Military's houses, offices, barracks, depots were made by the British which are still being used. Compare the perks just mentioned to that of a politician. He consumes more than a dozen Elite force troops, a dozen drivers and a fleet of cars (40% with bulletproof vehicles). Salary & Govt. concessions for a Member of NATIONAL ASSEMBLY (MNA): Monthly Salary: Rs.120,000 to 200,000 Expense for Constitution per month: Rs.100,000 Office expenditure per month: Rs.140,000 Traveling concession ( Rs.8 per km): Rs.48,000 (For a visit to Islamabad & return: 6000 km) Daily BETA during Assembly meets: Rs.500 Charges for 1 class (A/C) in train: Free (For any number of times & All Over PAKISTAN) Charges for Business Class in flights: Free for 40 trips / year (With wife or P.A.) Rent for Govt. hostel any where: Free Electricity costs at home: Free up to 50,000 units Local phone call charges: Free up to 170,000 calls.TOTAL expense for a MNA per year: Rs. 32,000,000 (approx.)TOTAL expense for 5 years: Rs.160,000,000 As such for 534 MNAs, the expense for 5 years comes to Rs.85,440,000,000 (about 9000 crores) I would at least not mind the current perks an officer of the armed forces enjoys, he rises from a low ranked officer and is promoted on performances and devotion to duty for the defence of the country. The service puts an officer in at least 10 times in a danger where he could lose his life. What does a minister, MPA, MNA or a politician sacrifice for the country! If they spend Rs.100 on their election campaign, they easily get 10,000times that of what he invested when he gets in power. For the time when we face economic crisis, Armed forces should also be asked to reduce their spendings per grade officer.

Billoo Bhaya | 13 years ago | Reply @Mirza: Agree with you completely. They should come in their own cars instead of cars being used for Begum, for children and for all other members of the family. No army officers or civil servants any where in the world are entitled to official cars with drivers and petrol. Pakistani officers of all shades on a purchasing power parity basis are the most expensive and the least productive in the world.

Billoo Bhaya | 13 years ago | Reply Why are they being given cars on depreciated value and also a transport allowance too??? Something is wrong with the math of the Planning Commission?? They should be sold by appointing a third party such as Honda Motors or Indus Motors to sell them through their show rooms at market prices and the monies to be deposited with the Treasury. FYI the British Government has 82 vehicles that cover all, including the Prime Minister. I would like the Planning Commission to give cars to Ministers only and not to the whole NA, Senate and the Provincial Assemblies. All ministers are rich enough to buy their own cars for personal use and their official cars should be available for Official Use ONLY. After the minister signs off for the day the car should be parked at the Ministry with a log book identifying end of day mileage. My father in the 1950s and 1960s was entitled to a Staff Car with Driver for Official Use. But he still drove to work and from work to home in his personal Morris Oxford car. Driver of the Official Car was under orders from my father not to offer rides to his children at any time. These were the standard operating rules of all officers belonging to the Indian Civil Service. Yes, the service created by the British Empire that valued courage, honor, commitment, service and loyalty to their country and to their fellow man. They were the true Government Servants selected from the entire population of India on merit without any quota system. Not like the pusillanimous cadre of DMG that serves only itself and not even its country honestly.

Mirza | 13 years ago | Reply How about the perks of armed forces? Why only bloody civilians are for cuts? I am not opposing the cuts but they should be accross the board, no exception. How about the loser Naval Chief who came in at Mehran Shadi Hall/base in an 8 crore BMW?

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