Enigma of the Defence Budget

Enigma of defence budget

Dear Sherry you have written a beautiful article like yourself but, excuse me, you fell short of marshalling the full facts about the actual spendings in the name of defense. What is shown in the budget or even in the accounts in this respect is only, so to say, a tip of the iceberg. But why be so concerned about it when your leader the great Bhutto often used to display his determination to fight a thousand years’ war with India and to make atom bomb even if the nation has to eat grass. We are not eating grass yet though the mighty Bhutto could not defend himself from the `defence` even with all his horses including the FSF.

#62 by faisaluno

[oh look, its chowk`s pagal kutta in residence back to receive his daily dose of gaalis from us much in the same manner as his ancestors did for all those years.]

Abay gadhay ki aulad, our ancestors as well as yours were at the receiving end of the gaalis, but the only difference is that yours were raped as well, which is why you are a katlu.

Why is that some writers do not interact with readers at all ......Sherry sure seems like one or ishe can not due to the faulty SEA-ME-WE-3 cable.

hey doggie whats the big deal? you have been stalking me and begging for my attention even though i have nothing but contempt for your kind.

#62 by faisaluno on July 4, 2005 3:23am PT

Save the bandwidth...Pakiland needs every bit of it...As it is, you`ve lost whatever piddly IT exports you had...now you have to come begging to India for an internet connection...

Pakistan seeks Indian help for Net connectivity

By Muhammad Najeeb, Islamabad: Pakistan Saturday requested India to link it to the worldwide web, five days after its Internet links with most parts of the world were cut off.

``We have asked India to link Pakistan with the international web,`` a spokesman for Pakistan Telecommunication Corp Ltd (PTCL) told IANS.

The response from India was awaited, he added.

Asked how long it would take to connect Pakistan through India, the official said: ``Not more than a few hours.``

Pakistan`s Internet links were snapped Tuesday last due to a fault in an undersea optic fibre cable.

Pakistan has sought international help to rectify the fault but has yet not succeeded in this.

Bad weather has further delayed the arrival of a ship at Karachi from Dubai to repair the cable, which is Pakistan`s sole Internet link with the rest of the world, excepting the satellite links PTCL recently acquired, sources said.

They said 40 and 50 percent of the cable had been damaged and it could take days to detect and remove the faults.

Eighty percent of Pakistan`s Internet users have been facing connectivity problems since Tuesday. Twenty percent have been able to connect through satellite links.

oh look, its chowk`s pagal kutta in residence back to receive his daily dose of gaalis from us much in the same manner as his ancestors did for all those years. waisay i wonder why chowk allows these jaanwers to take take residence here? i think chowk-staff might be indians and the barking of these dogs reminds them of home.

#60 by Romair on July 3, 2005 9:24pm PT


The business sector is different. Pakistan`s business sector is not dominated by feudals and maulvis.


Name one Paki company that rises to the level of Reliance, Infosys or Wipro...Name one Pakistani billionaire...

can`t? didn`t think so...Your BS might work on the retarded bong and that too in the Paki echo-chamber of self-delusion....in the real world, it`s as effective at changing the reality as your t-shirt with paki flags were effective at making pakis the favorites of the american junta...

faisaluno #58: ``however i dont trust people like zardari and nawaz sharif to bring in reform. army acts as a check on these politicians and these people will destroy the army much in the same manner is bhutto destroyed the private sector.``

I`ll explain the detials of plot aloocation and the advantages Generals take out of it, in a separate reply. As well as how military allocations are done for positions in places like PIA, etc. I keep bringing up PIA, since I am familiar with it............

I agree completely that Zardari, NS etc. are far more corrupt. There should be no doubt in anyone`s mind. I doubt there are any Generals with 61 off-shore companies, or who have avoided taxes to the extent that NS has etc.

However, the Army is not a credible check. Sooner or later it will join the gravy train also. Which it has started doing, at the high ranks.

In politics, I actually have nothing against the Army kicking out the likes of BB and NS. If feudals, maulvis and generals are the only choices available, then I would not vote. However, if I had to, then my vote would, in most cases, go to the Generals.

The business sector is different. Pakistan`s business sector is not dominated by feudals and maulvis. There are plenty of genunie competent businessmen and businesswomen available. There is plenty of executive talent available. There are plenty of people settled abroad, who are willing to come back, also. In fact, whenever a level playing field has been made available, the Pakistani businessman and entreprenuer has delivered. It is now starting to deliver again, when Shaukut Aziz and Co. has provided it with a level playing field.............The Pakistani business sector is far more competent, dedicated, genuine, and patriotic than Pakistan`s political sector. It does not need any interference from Generals, or anyone else.

There is absolutely no reason for the military of any country, to be running airlines, cement factories, banks, etc. There is ample competent talent availabe to run banks, and fly airliners, in the civil.

The biggest affect of all this will be that the Army will no longer remain a fighting army.........Even today, it is the Colonels and below who are holding up the flag of the Army. Above these ranks, the Army is becoming hollow by the day. And it is not because of its involvement in politics. It is because of its involvement in business............

in my earlier post, i meant to write that public sector entities cannot attract people from the private sector.

romiar, perhaps you can shed some light on how plot allocation system works in the army and how senior officers take advantage of the system. i know few retired senior army officers in karachi. none of them have a lifestyle that can be described as luxurious. a couple of my uncles retired as generals few years ago. both of them got one plot each in defence. both of them built a house on that property by getting bank loans. both of them have put their houses on rent because they could not afford the payment. they themselves live in rented apts.

i also have friends whose father retired below the rank of general. some of them live in askari apts which were built for the army if i am not mistaken. others live in places like seaview. these places in karachi can be described as upper middle class. btw, if you want to compare lifestyles, sherry rehman`s husband as the number two man at citibank pak was making over a million rupees a month and used to drive around in a mercedes that according to my estimate cost between rs. 6-7 million. btw, i also saw an interesting comment in today`s news on govt and plot allotment:

http://jang.com.pk/thenews/

``...Wife of a retired government employee on this occasion told the prime minister that her husband could not get plot during his service. The prime minister told her that the government would develop some more sectors and added that new allotments would be purely on merit through balloting...``

i also agree with you that public sector companies should not give preference to retired army officers. however you have to realise that there is a huge shortage of senior level skilled manpower in pak. most engineers graduating from places like ned end up moving abroad. the ones who cant end up in places like kesc and wapda. if you were running a public sector entity in pak, would you prefer to hire someone from wapda or someone from the army? and please remember that public sector entities can attract people from the private sector.

overall, i agree with you that reform is necessary. however i dont trust people like zardari and nawaz sharif to bring in reform. army acts as a check on these politicians and these people will destroy the army much in the same manner is bhutto destroyed the private sector.

faisaluno #55: `` have no problems if at retirement after 20 years of loyal service, senior pak army officers are able to afford a 500 yard plot in defence and a toyota corolla.``

Yes, there is nothing wrong with this. In fact, I am all for it. However, there is a better way to do this. The salaries of junior officers should be raised. Specifically those who have high qualifications. My friend, with a Ph.D, teaching at NUST, should not be making 1/8th the salary of my friend, who also has a Ph.D., teaching at LUMS. Which is currently the case. Also, my friend commanding an F-16 squadron should not be making 1/4th to 1/5ht the salary of my friend who is the Captain of an Airbus in PIA...........

However, this is not how the problem is handled. What is done is that people who make it to the General ranks are compensated heavily through multiple plots (not just one) etc. More importantly, those who have contacts, after 20 years of service, end up in lucrative positions, in PIA, Fauji foundations etc.

Why in the world should a pilot who has had a career of 25 years in the PAF, be placed in PIA? Which airline of the world allows that? When there are hundreds of qualified pilots in their 20s, who have never had a single govt. job. What about them? Similarly, why should a General after 35 years of service, not just retire into silent oblivion. Why should he then go on and become an ambassador or be made CEO of Fauji Cement.

All these guys are taking jobs away from someone. And that too, after having a full career in the military, already.......If there were a shortage of pilots in Pakistan, one could understand the PAF sending someone to PIA. But there isn`t. There is actually a large excess. Similary if there were a shortage of people who can run cement factories, one could undersand, Generals runing them, or sitting on their Boards. But there isn`t a shortage........

There are people in Pakistan, who are literally living off the govt. One career in the military. Then another one in another govt. owned organization, like PIA, PIDC, Foreign service. And for some, even a third........They have become very wealthy through this........

``as far as i know, salaries of even generals are much lower than those of their counterpart in the pvt sector.``

This is true. But the solution is not to give them plots galore, to make up for it. Or place them into PIA etc. If they think their salaries are low, they should be allowed to quit and compete in the private sector. They should quit and apply for a job in PIA, or in a bank. If they cannot get such a job, then they are not qualified enough............They shouldn`t just be placed there......

I was hugely underpaid in the military, in comparison to the job I was doing. I eventually quit. And then looked for another job. I thought about trying in PIA, but did not have any contacts to get the job. Then I started another career in IT.......That is how it should work........

#55 by faisaluno on July 3, 2005 7:32am PT

why do you need good people....When you had the heights in Kargil and the Indians counter-attacked, you turned tail and ran...When the Indians had the heights in Siachen, your mission to revocer the heights has been a miserable failure...

the Paki army can achieve the same lack of success if the recruited you....

romair,

i have no problems if at retirement after 20 years of loyal service, senior pak army officers are able to afford a 500 yard plot in defence and a toyota corolla. this is contingent upon pak army selecting and promoting people on merit as much as possible. also it makes no difference to me whether you compensate senior officers by cash or by allocating them a plot. as far as i know, salaries of even generals are much lower than those of their counterpart in the pvt sector. a good bank executive with around 15 years of experience these days makes around rs 3-4 lacs a month. a very senior bank executive with foreign experience makes rs. 5-7 lacs. i would estimate senior officers at the top echelon of pak army earn a fraction of this.

i think you have to pay a decent salary if you want to attract and retain good people and take away incentive for peole to be corrupt. this concept should also apply to police officers as well as bureaucrats. i think there is a proposal with govt to do away with perks and pay govt employess cash instead. this proposal is being resisted by vested interest who benefit by defrauding govt through fake bills etc.

They have also called in to reduce and nearly eliminate the number of servants attached with officers for monetary compensation and for hiring civilian workforce. I am confused about the consequences of that.. however i feel that goes in line with the ``reduction`` of armed personnel.. shame shame sir musharraf..

My tour of indian metros continues.......

pic of CHENNAI (formerly MADRAS)....the 4th largest metro in India...


http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=212307&page=4

#45 by fuzair :

``I wouldn`t hold up the example of the CCP and Mao Zedong as ``proving`` the virutes of ``Dictator for Life.`` Mao was arguably the worse thing that ever happened to China (upto and including the Opium Wars and the Japanese invasion). Read some Chinese history and find out what Mao did during the Great Leap Forward and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.

Now, if you were to hold up Deng Xiaoping as ``proving`` why a lifetime job is a good thing, that is another matter! ``

I was not intended to proved Mao as the Dictator faced by China, but if you know in China Communist Party the bottom up approach of constituiting leadership always chose him to be the chairman of its party. For the coincidence of Benazir Bhutto who herself proclaimed to be the denominator whereby she is included by the majority people to continue this designation would be proven the same if done democratically. And by that way she is nominating her subordinates and authorities which also should be elected by themselves so reversing the socio political procedures making the party weak.
Mao is criticized for his Laep Forward plan for transforming from rapid agricultural growing economy to modern light industrialization where China faced many droughts at those couple of years. But it was a positive incentive towards uplifting rural growth and making new opportunities in Urban Development. The real picture at macro level can be described by an economist.