Rakhshanda-Rakhshanda The present coalition government led by the Pakistan Peoples Party has surpassed all records of bad governance in the countrys history. There is not even a single example where the government has taken any step to make the common man comfortable. On the contrary, all steps taken by it have accentuated the problems and continue to make their life miserable. The cost of living has increased manifold since the PPP government came into power and continues to increase; whereas, there is no evidence of any resolve to solve the problem. Let us see the mishandling of some critical issues for which the government has shown its total inability to handle in an appropriate manner and without regard to the timeframe for its resolution. The first problem is the shortage of electricity; the second is the mishandling of national assets and institutions, like Pakistan Steel, PIA and Pakistan Railways; and the third is the shortage of natural gas. We will now analyse each one of them to understand the way they were handled by the government. Shortage of Electricity: When the government took over in 2008, it was quite clear that there was a problem in the field of electricity generation. That the shortage needed to be attended to immediately so that when the need for maximum electricity arose, there would be enough available. However, instead of taking appropriate action, the government moved forward to ensure maximum benefits to some individuals. Also, rather than find a simple solution to solve the problems of the existing power plants and put an end to theft and line losses, they worked out the most complicated solution through foreign supplied JPPS and RPPS where something could be built-in in the payment plan for these plants. False promises were made to the public through different arenas, including the National Assembly; however, these promises and timeframes were utterly unrealistic. The basic intention was malicious and mala fide: To mislead the public. The result is quite clear; it has also been revealed (in the very recent past) that the government was withholding payments to the power producers, who accordingly reduced their output and when the payments were made, the output was increased and loadshedding reduced. Administrative and Organisational Bungling in Pakistan Steel, PIA and Pakistan Railways: Soon after taking over, the PPP government obliged its workers by employing them in large numbers in these organisations without giving due consideration to their educational qualification or experience, and also without regard to the capacity of these organisations to absorb or bear such a large number of freeloaders. Even organisational heads were appointed on the basis of personal friendship. Obviously, operational capability, as well as profitability, was affected adversely, which reduced both efficiency and revenue generation of the State institutions. Now the services being offered to the public are so substandard that there is total disgust and anger against the government for bringing these national assets to their present unsatisfactory state. Shortage of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG): Immediately on taking over the reins of the country, the government adopted a policy of 'Go Slow on the plans to import natural gas from friendly countries, like Iran and Turkmenistan. Knowing fully well the impact of this action, it not only did not do anything to reduce the shortage of gas, but also continued to oblige influential persons, on political basis, by issuing new licences for CNG stations all over the country. The shortage of CNG has not only hit the transport sector badly, but also affected the production of electricity and industrial units using it for their operations. A specific example of the industrial sector adversely affected is the textile sector, which due to the scheduled and often unscheduled loadshedding had to reduce production; more so, the irregular production resulted in reduced exports, thus having multiple and vicious effects on the economy. Any reasonable person would have foreseen that the shortage of gas would have a multidimensional effect and would eventually reduce national growth. From the above discourse, it is evident that the government is totally incapable of foreseeing the problems, realising their impact on the overall national canvass, and finding a workable solution for them in the correct timeframe. These are, indeed, the very ingredients of bad governance and have made the life of common man miserable; it has also hurt the nations image in the international arena. Due to this reason, the flow of foreign capital into the country has almost come to a halt that has led to the slowing down of the economy, reducing national GDP and per capita income, besides bringing down the living standard of the average Pakistani. The writer is a Karachi-based senior columnist and the CEO of Progressive/Patriotic Media Group