More ignominy for PIA

EditorialPublished January 18, 2021

ANOTHER ignominious (‫ )بدنامی کا۔‬chapter has opened in the wretched

( ‫ )ناکارہ‬saga of the national flag carrier. On Friday, it was learnt that a PIA
Boeing 777 had been seized (‫ )پکڑ لینا‬at Kuala Lumpur airport on the orders of
a Malaysian court in a $14m lease dispute.

The aircraft was about to depart for Pakistan when the local authorities asked
that the crew and passengers disembark (‫)جہاز سے کنارے پر اترنا‬. From the
details available, it appears that this particular jet is one of two leased (‫)ٹھیکہ‬
by PIA from a Dublin-based company and is part of the portfolio sold by the
latter to Peregrine(‫ )غیر ملکی‬Aviation Charlie Ltd, which is the plaintiff (‫مدعی‬
) in the case.

As per the interim injunction (‫)عبوری حکم امتناعی‬, PIA is barred from moving
the two 777s once they have landed or parked at Kuala Lumpur airport
pending the next hearing later this month. The other jet affected by the order
was recorded by a flight tracking service (‫ )ٹریکنگ سروس‬as being in Karachi
last month.

The decline of an airline that started out with such promise, that was a
pioneer in many respects and was instrumental in setting up some of today’s
most successful airlines, is an unmitigated tragedy (‫)بال تعطل سانحہ‬. Decades of
mismanagement, nepotism ( ‫ )اقربا پروری‬and political opportunism were bound
to take their toll. Successive governments saw PIA as a means of rewarding
the loyalty of supporters and the airline’s cadres were packed with
undeserving (‫ )غیر مستحق‬people.

With time, PIA became a byword for mediocrity (‫ )اعتدال پسندی‬and dysfunction
— a frightening decline in an environment where the slightest mistake or
oversight can cost lives, and indeed did so. For this, the Civil Aviation
Authority as the regulator (‫ )ضابطہ‬must shoulder a large part of the blame.
Perennially (‫ )بارہماسی‬deep in the red, PIA has needed to be bailed out ( ‫ضمانت‬
‫ )ہوجانا‬by the government on a regular basis. Within the past year, it seems all
the chickens have come home to roost.

The crash of PK-8303 close to the Karachi airport in May 2020 precipitated a
series of disastrous (‫ )تباہ کُن‬developments. As the preliminary investigation
report showed, the incident — in which 97 out of 99 people on board perished
(‫ — )غارت ہونا‬was the outcome of several avoidable but deadly procedural
errors. Then, almost immediately after, the aviation minister (‫)ہوا بازی کے وزیر‬
declared that the CAA-issued licences of 260 Pakistani pilots working in
various local and overseas airlines were ‘fake’, a reckless statement that pre-
empted the outcome of an ongoing inquiry. His words created a global furore.

PIA was banned from operating in several parts of the world by various
international airline safety boards; and Pakistani pilots employed by foreign
carriers were suspended until the provenance (‫ )پروویژن‬of their licences was
investigated. In the end, the number of fraudulent licences (‫)جعلی الئسنسوں‬
turned out to be far lower, but the damage was done. PIA has yet to recover
from that catastrophe (‫)مصیبت‬, and now this fresh embarrassment has
surfaced. What is the airline management’s game plan? Does it even have
one?

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2021

Agriculture woes
EditorialPublished January 18, 2021

AGRICULTURE is the lifeline of Pakistan’s economy. It is a source of

livelihood (‫ )وجہ معاش‬for two-thirds of the country’s population living in
villages and employs almost 39pc of the national labour force besides
contributing (‫ )بطور ِحصہ ادا کَرنا‬to the nation’s overseas shipments of textiles,
leather, rice, etc, which together form around three-quarters of the export
revenue (‫)آمدنی‬. More importantly, the country’s food security is reliant ( ‫اعتماد‬
‫ )یا بھروسا کرنے واال‬on the performance of the agriculture sector. Yet, only a
negligible (‫ )برائے نام‬amount of money is spent on research and development to
develop new high-yield seed varieties, assist (‫ )سہارا دینا‬farmers adopt (‫)اختیار کرنا‬
modern technologies, improve soil fertility, help cattle owners increase milk
yield and meat production for domestic and export markets, and so on. On
top of that, smallholders are left at the mercy of middlemen and speculators
(‫ )غور یا منصوبہ کرنے واال‬for credit to buy inputs at hefty costs. Much of the
government input subsidies (‫ )محصول خاص‬are directed towards major crops
such as wheat, rice and sugarcane, a policy that discourages (‫)ہمت یا دل توڑنا‬
growers to shift from low- to high-value crops. Research shows that
improvement in crop output is driven primarily by expansion ( ‫ )فراخی‬of the
cultivable area and the increased use of chemicals, which has spawned (‫)خدشات‬
food-safety concerns. It is also hinders ( ‫ )مزاحمت کرنا‬efforts to boost
agricultural exports.

Thus, it is not without reason that Prime Minister Imran Khan has termed
agriculture “the most important sector” for the country’s future. We do not
know what it means, but he has also directed the Punjab government to
“remove all hurdles (‫)کاوٹ ُ ر‬
َ for facilitating farmers” and develop strategies
(‫ )حکمت عملی‬for trebling agricultural production. No matter how important the
prime minister’s message is, it will sound hollow (‫ )کھوکھال‬unless it is backed by
radical changes in federal and provincial policies affecting the competitiveness
(‫ )مسابقت‬of the farm sector. With food demand rising continuously on the back
of high population growth, the government needs to allocate (‫ )مقرر کرنا‬more
resources to agriculture research, and set up initiatives to encourage adoption
of innovative (‫ )جدید‬farm technologies. Inefficient subsidies (‫)محصول خاص‬, as
shown by many studies, mostly end up in the pockets of middlemen or big
farmers instead of helping smallholders. Besides, programmes are needed for
increasing growers’ access to cheaper, formal credit ( ‫ )بھروسہ کرنا‬and linking
them directly to the markets to eliminate (‫ )نکال دینا‬the role of middleman to
reduce their costs and raise their incomes. A well-developed agriculture sector
can contribute majorly to national economic development and help alleviate
(‫ )کم کرنا‬rural poverty. For this to happen, policymakers need to clean up the
mess they have made in this important sector.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2021

Internet access
EditorialPublished January 18, 2021

AS the Covid-19 pandemic rages ( ‫ )تیزی‬on, and shows few signs of dissipating
(‫)بکھر جانا‬, one of the many lessons policymakers should be noting is the
importance of high-speed internet, particularly for educational purposes and
remote work. Yet many parts of Pakistan continue to struggle with accessing
the internet, or citizens are unable to afford its costs, or face connectivity
issues (‫)رابطے کے مسائل‬, particularly in the peripheral (‫ ) محیط‬regions of Gilgit-
Baltistan, Balochistan and the tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Furthermore, just as women face a constant stream of restrictions
(‫ )حد بندی‬in the ‘real world’, their presence and access to the online world is
filled with hurdles and setbacks (‫) ناکامیوں‬.

Last week, the non-profit organisation Media Matters for Democracy

published its most recent findings on women’s access to the internet in a
report titled Women Disconnected: Feminist Case Studies on the Gender
Digital Divide Amidst Covid-19. Interviewing 215 women across Pakistan,
including in the newly merged (‫ )ضم کرنا‬tribal districts ( ‫)قبائلی اضالع‬, it noted
that six out of 10 women faced some form of restriction from their families
when accessing the internet, including for carrying out simple tasks such as
attending online classes — the standard method of teaching for many during
the pandemic — or communicating with family members on WhatsApp.
Besides the gender divide, the survey also looked at socioeconomic barriers
(‫)معاشرتی اقتصادی رکاوٹیں‬. It found that only 40pc of respondents
(‫ )جواب دینے واال‬use the internet daily; of those women, half belong to families
earning more than Rs60,000 each month. Among women who do not use the
internet at all, seven out of 10 belong to families who earn less than Rs30,000
each month. More than 75pc of respondents said that the internet was
expensive (‫ )مہنگا‬and out of their reach. Additionally, when it came to cultural
attitudes, many Pakistanis continue to regard women’s access to the internet
with suspicion, and more than half of the respondents mentioned concerns
(‫ )کام‬from family members. The survey offers a list of recommendations for the
government, including the setting up of public Wi-Fi spaces that are accessible
(‫ )قا ِب ِل َرسائی‬to women, keeping ‘cultural dynamics’ in mind.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2021