Almost into its sixth month in power, the ruling dispensation has apparently been unable to deliver the promised pie. Why the expectations were so high was because the pumpkin was supposed to turn into the coach. And since it has not over the past months, disappointment has unsettled many and among them not surprisingly the Superior judiciary that has on its cap a badge of courage for initiating suo moto notices around virtually every bump it thought the executive was fumbling.
Wednesday’s suo moto proceedings on electricity tariffs saw the central government come in for a lot of flak, mainly over the way it has grappled with the power crisis in general and the frequent increase in tariffs that have all come down to snatching bread from the poor. Court’s remarks that the ordinary consumers are made to pay for the credit crunch resulting from electricity theft contradicts claim that the net is being tightened around thieves and defaulters.
NEPRA was questioned particularly for pegging its own ‘taxes’ to bills without a formal nod from the parliament. NEPRA, it looks is starting to act up. In the eyes of the Supreme Court, it seems, it is absolutely no better than an entity that adds to the problems rather than solving them. Apparently how it fixes prices, at whose behest exactly and why so frequently adds up to a mystifying process that needs to be a little more transparent. Sadly the perception builds that the central government doesn’t know anything to do about it.
Although, at the end of the day, it is very easy to say it is the government’s fault because that is where ultimately the buck stops, ultimately and definitely, good work shows itself and even for a country battered by as many problems as Pakistan does, one step at a time, however slow and steady can mark the beginning of a journey that will eventually lead somewhere. Ridiculous methods such as bringing in more and more power plants that run on oil will guzzle billions and billions each year. And the worst thing about it is this circular debt that is virtually unstoppable almost like clockwork.
At the same time, reality is totally different for the masses. Caught up in a vicious circle of eking out a bare existence they will curse their stars every time the bills go up.
To work its way towards better days, the central government needs time as much as it needs conviction in its abilities. And when it comes to rigging up the broken energy edifice, it has to have the backing of the provincial governments because obviously both are partners.
The way to go about the solution does not lie in writing off those who hold the helm and certainly not at this juncture. It is simply in drawing up solutions. Nobody would want to be turned down as no good. But at least as of now what the government can and should do is to demonstrate it is on to the right track.