AGP report on Railways

Recent report that the Railways has incurred losses of Rs333.812 billion in 9 years shouldn’t raise any eyebrows

Sick and loss-making units are, unfortunately, a recurring liability of our economy. This has hampered not only growth but has kept us bogged down deep in the abyss of deficit. To the surprise of all, mega projects from steel and iron industries to buzzing textile units, and of course railways, are reported to be loss-making merely because of a jaundiced phenomenon of administrative lacunas coupled with inherent nepotism. Furthermore, the fact that the country has not been able to convert its production into an exportable entity, and remains less than 30 per cent of its GDP-trade ratio, is another conundrum. This has to be addressed in a surgical manner, and ensured that dead wood is off the rack.

A recent report from the Auditor General of Pakistan that the Pakistan Railways has incurred operational losses to the tune of Rs333.812 billion in nine years (2011-20) shouldn’t raise any eyebrows. It was destined to be taking into account the ad hoc structure of governance, and the ill-will through which the national asset was managed. With a gigantic landmass from the belly of Hindukush to shores of Arabian Sea, a viable railway track left behind by the British, was neither used for economic utility nor for productive mass mobilisation. Freight and passenger trains turned out to be a liability and were run on subsidies for decades. This was not a fallacy on the part of the enterprising workforce, rather a callous attitude on behalf of policymakers. Likewise, the national carrier, the mercantile sea fleet and many other plum industrial units were made to bite the dust. The reason, as pointed out by the AGP, is owing to the enigma of subsidiaries and a weak business plan.

This dilemma of such parasites was also pointed out by the IMF which wants legislative and introspective safeguards to make such sick units viable. Let that be the way to go, and professional auditing makes its way. Enough of a cushioning approach. There are no holy cows as long as the country is going down the drain. Reform these units or put them to the altar.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2022.

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