Elite economics

One of the basic necessities for any state to function is to collect enough revenues through direct taxation and export earnings etc to meet its expenses and accumulate enough reserves to meet any emergency. A state that prefers to oblige the affluent with endless tax amnesty schemes, waivers and reliefs, ends up overburdening both the salaried classes and the lower-income groups, including those living below the poverty line. The inflated electricity bills people are now being forced to pay are a classic example of this problem. Driven to desperation, the people are bound to protest.

Undoubtedly, the vested interest of the political parties in encouraging the protests is a causal factor. However, we cannot deny the fact that most protestors are genuinely angry, frustrated and afraid. Successive governments have failed to stop line losses, which run into the hundreds of billions of rupees. Everybody who matters in the corridors of power is aware of the identity of those involved in electricity theft, but their own conflicts of interest prevent any punitive measures or recovery.

Malik Tariq Ali

Lahore