Ministers and their cars

At a time when the country should be tightening its belt, official extravagance is plundering the national exchequer.

When he took power in 2008, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani announced a series of austerity measures that were meant to stand in stark contrast to the profligate Pervez Musharraf regime. Among the measures announced was a promise that the size of government cars would be restricted to a maximum of 1,600 cc and only those authorised to use these cars would do so. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly has shown these promises to be hollow — seven officials of the communications ministry are using 30 Land Cruisers along with other cars. Even the NAB, which is supposed to keep a check on corruption, was accused of misusing official vehicles. In September, the PAC found that Senate Chairman Farooq Naek was using four vehicles, though he is entitled to one. While it is true that the charges were made by PAC Chairman Chaudhry Nisar Ali, who is a member of the opposition PML-N, and should be taken with a grain of salt, just the fact that many ministries refused to submit details of vehicles they were using, shows that they have something to hide.

Certain ministers in sensitive positions are being targeted by militants — for them, the use of bullet-proof vehicles is understandable. But such perks, should not be taken for granted by ministers and the bureaucracy. The prime minister had decided last year that the president and the prime minister should have no more than a seven-vehicle motorcade, with the governors and chief ministers restricted to six. This restriction, too, has been repeatedly violated. At a time when the country should be tightening its belt and trying to save every penny, official extravagance should not be tolerated and the accused parties need to be summoned to the National Assembly to explain why they have been plundering the national exchequer.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2010.