Freedom of speech?: Economists get in trouble for using strong words

Parliamentary panel summons Planning Commission deputy chairman for terming 2008 poverty estimates a fraud.

ISLAMABAD:

A parliamentary panel decried on Wednesday a recent statement of Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Dr Nadeemul Haque in which he termed 2008 poverty estimates a ‘fraud’ and summoned him to clear his position.

The Senate Standing Committee on Finance also summoned Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan, economic adviser during General Musharraf regime, who in response to the statement wrote an article to defend the poverty estimates. The panel also decided to call secretaries of finance and statistics division to find out the reality of 2008 poverty numbers and the reason that the incumbent government has not released latest numbers despite a lapse of almost four years.

“Planning Commission Deputy Chairman should not have given such an irresponsible statement, as he is not an ordinary citizen and his words reach all corners of the world,” said Chairman of the Standing Committee Senator Ahmed Ali.

Dr Nadeemul Haque last week said “the 2008 poverty figure was a fraud that was not even endorsed by any renowned economist or poverty expert”. The 17.2 per cent poverty estimate was based on findings of Pakistan Social and Living Measurement Survey 2007-08 which established that poverty had dropped to 17.2 per cent from 22.3 per cent. The incumbent government had not released these poverty estimates.

“The government needs to ensure credibility of the statistics division and at the same time avoid such statements that can hurt the country’s image,” said former finance minister Senator Ishaq Dar.

In response to Dr Nadeem’s statement, Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan has written a column which states that Dr Nadeem has not only insulted two international institutions, namely the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, but also insulted dozens of experts of these institutions as well as the young and bright economists of the Centre for Poverty Reduction and Social Policy Development.

He also wrote that terming 2008 figures fraud tantamount to terming Nobu Yoshida and Tomayuki Sho, poverty experts of the South Asian Department of the World Bank and Professor Nanak Kakwani – an authority on poverty measurements and an expert of the UN frauds. These experts had validated these poverty numbers.

“Both parties should have been careful in word selection and they now ought to tone down their statements,” said Dr Waqar Masood Secretary Finance. He endorsed the committee’s decision to call the parties to resolve the issue once for all.

Dr Nadeem is of the view that poverty estimates do not serve any purpose and instead the government should be more focused on stimulating growth that would eventually take people out of the poverty net.

However, experts have urged the Planning Commission to also focus on the poor and the vulnerable of the country.

A renowned economist Dr Ehtisham Ahmad wrote in his comments on Dr Ashfaque’s article that the problem with the Planning Commission’s current absence of focus on the poor is that they do not know the extent of deprivation in the country or the need for public policy to do anything about it.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2011.