The price of tomatoes
AT a press conference called to tout the government’s achievement in stabilising the economy, and to announce the first stimulus measures since the period of adjustment began, the prime minister’s financial adviser, Hafeez Shaikh, found himself peppered, instead, with questions about the rise in prices of essential items.
Read: PM aide on finance chastised over price hike ignorance
Rarely has a government official found himself so much at sea in trying to field questions of such intimate importance to ordinary people.
When the responses given by Mr Shaikh sounded too vacuous, the questions became more pointed, ending, ultimately, with one reporter asking about the massive spike in the price of tomatoes, to which the adviser famously responded that, as per his information, tomatoes were selling for Rs17 per kilo in Karachi’s wholesale vegetable markets.
Rarely has so much been said in so few words.
In that one fleeting moment, videos of which went viral in a matter of minutes and made Mr Shaikh the target of derision around the country, we all saw the immense gulf that separates the rulers from the ruled in this country.
It is entirely possible that many of our worthy policymakers have hardly ever gone to the market to purchase tomatoes. It is equally possible that they are largely indifferent to the impact that the food price hikes have on the daily lives of tens of millions of people in this country, who have no choice but to spend more than half their household income on food for their family.
But surely, our decision-makers should look beyond their mandate to fix the deficits in the economy and “create buffers”, to use the soulless parlance of the IMF, in the fiscal equation as well as the foreign exchange reserves.
Surely, they should not be indifferent to how their policies will impact the population even as the financial managers try to correct the economic flaws.
Meanwhile, the macroeconomic stability that Mr Shaikh wants to underscore has actually been earned on the backs of the working and unemployed poor of this country. It is they who have made the heaviest sacrifice in the government’s slash-and-burn economic stabilisation effort thus far, and who have felt the greatest pain of these ‘demand compression’ policies.
Yet, once the buffers are created, and fiscal resources become available, they are to be spent on the rich first and foremost, in the old-fashioned hope that from there the wealth will trickle down to the poor. This is how Mr Shaikh was able to announce that Rs200bn will be spent to subsidise interest rates on loans for exporters, and Rs30bn would be similarly spent on loans for construction magnates. But for the poor, we see a package worth Rs6bn to be spent through the utility stores to make essential items affordable. The disparity is unmistakable, as is the terrible injustice behind it all.
Kabul visit
WHEN it comes to neighbours, states have little choice but to try and interact amicably, even though this can prove to be a considerable challenge at times due to a variety of reasons. The relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been chequered for most of its history; the past few decades have been especially rocky, mainly due to internal upheavals in the latter country. However, it is in the interest of both states to maintain friendly ties and use statesmanship and sagacity to deal with irritants that threaten to derail relations. In the light of this principle, it is welcome that the foreign secretary and ISI chief visited Kabul on Monday, as a number of recent incidents have contributed to the cooling of the bilateral relationship. According to an Afghan official, the two sides discussed ways of “normalising relations”; among the issues reportedly discussed was a property dispute in Peshawar involving an Afghan bank, cross-border firing incidents and alleged harassment of diplomats in both states.
The high-powered delegation’s visit to Afghanistan indicates that Pakistan is serious about mending fences with Kabul. The fact is that to improve relations in the long term, bilateral visits between political and military figures are needed to clear misconceptions and resolve disputes. Left unresolved, problems can snowball out of control and be blown out of proportion, hurting the prospects of peace in the region. Ultimately, peace in Afghanistan — though essentially an intra-Afghan issue — involves four major players; the government in Kabul, the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan and the Americans. At times, the respective players have varying agendas, but Islamabad and Kabul need to be on the same page, even though it can appear as if the Afghan government’s grip on power is tenuous. For a healthy bilateral relationship, as well as peace within Afghanistan, Islamabad and Kabul need to strengthen ties to ensure that minor irritants do not scuttle ties. All outstanding issues that both sides feel are important can be resolved through dialogue. There are, of course, some actors in the region that are loath to see good relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. That should not be a deterrent; in fact, it should make both sides see why it is important to work harder to improve bilateral ties. The exchange of high-level visits can help, while formal dispute-resolution mechanisms can be set up to address the problems that occur from time to time.
Weighty schoolbags
AN important new law is waiting to be approved by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet. Drafted by the education department, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa School Bags Act, 2019, will make it compulsory for all educational institutions across the province to ensure schoolbags carried by children do not weigh more than 15pc of the student’s weight. The figure is in accordance with international research, though some researchers have suggested that the weight of the schoolbags should be as low as 10pc of a child’s bodyweight. As directed by the Peshawar High Court, the law must be passed and put into effect by both the government and private institutions before the new school year begins in 2020. Under the law, all schools must provide lockers and cupboards to students up till the 10th grade, while teachers will also have to tell the students in advance what books and course work they have to bring. Failure to comply with the law will result in heavy fines. If passed, the law will undoubtedly ease some of the burden and stress placed on students — which is in addition to their routine workload and homework — and can be replicated in the other provinces.
In the absence of proper facilities or arrangements, children have no choice but to carry their heavy learning material with them to school. Many have to walk long distances to reach their schools, and the strain on their young, still developing bodies — particularly the neck, back and shoulders — is considerable and entirely unnecessary. According to medical experts, heavy schoolbags lead to damage to the spine and muscles, which can go on to have a negative impact on a child’s cognitive and learning abilities. There is already a high dropout rate of students from school, and one of the reasons often cited by children is the exhaustion and sense of fatigue they feel. It is unfair for adults to make the simple pursuit of education so burdensome for the young.