Reviewed By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn
BASED on a doctoral thesis, this book explores the different kinds of leaderships that control labour informally outside the workplace and those exercising authority within the framework of the factory in Pakistan. Although this research was conducted in the ’70s and focuses on two case studies of the cotton textile industry in Karachi, it continues to be as relevant today as it was then.
Continue reading Resisting exploitation, but …
By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn
POVERTY, an area of profound concern for economists in the Third World, has acquired enormous political connotations. It has come to be used as the yardstick to measure the performance of a government. It is therefore not surprising that policymakers make exaggerated claims about poverty reduction.
The Musharraf government is no exception. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz insists that the ratio of those living below the poverty line in Pakistan has come down in five years from 34.46 per cent in 2000-01 to 23.9 per cent in 2004-05.
Continue reading What hurts is the rich-poor divide
By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn
PAKISTAN is a bundle of contradictions and it is difficult to make out what the finance managers want from the people. On the one hand, they are constantly complaining that Pakistanis are not in the habit of saving and the country’s saving rate is deplorably low.
The website of the Pakistan Savings Organisation carries a saying of the Quaid-i-Azam exhorting the people to save and invest in saving certificates. “Thrift as a national asset is going to play an important part in the building up of the state,” the father of the nation had said, we are told.
On the other hand, we have our policymakers attempting to pay homage to the market economy. To sustain it they feel the urgent need to give a fillip to consumerism. The attractive credit schemes — they are not necessarily attractive but are made to look so — only encourage profligacy with the state’s blessings. After having bought a car with a loan from a leasing company or a house with a bank loan which he can hardly afford and trapped in the debt cycle, can you expect the poor man to follow the Quaid’s dictum to buy certificates? The numerous shopping plazas coming up also confirm that the government’s strategy of encouraging the consumerist craze and giving a boost to the economy with demand driven growth is succeeding.
Continue reading Saving for the rainy day
By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn
LAST week, it was announced that in 2007 the Port of Singapore will take over the management of the Port of Gwadar. The financial arrangements, which probably are being finalised, have not been made public. This should not surprise anyone.
Has it not become a tradition for the authorities in this country to turn to foreign concerns not just to pull our chestnuts out of the fire but also to administer and manage projects that do not call for any hi-tech expertise?
Continue reading Do we really need foreign expertise?
By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn
WHEN the devastating earthquake of October 8, 2005, struck Azad Kashmir and parts of the NWFP, nearly 73,000 lives were lost, 70,000 people were seriously injured and 2.8 million were made homeless. The magnitude of the tragedy was enormous and Pakistanis as well as others from all over the world responded by sending in donations in cash and kind.
Many volunteered their time and services to help the victims. The government of Pakistan rose to the occasion to extend a helping hand.
It set up the Federal Relief Commission headed by a relief commissioner with the responsibility of “overseeing relief efforts targeting shelter, food, clean water and immediate medical care” as stated by the government.
Continue reading Quake spending needs transparency