Pakistani army looting Pakistan
Military and civilian welfare outfits
By Afshan Subohi
Imran 41, a retired Major, supervises a security agency in Karachi from a fairly senior position. He is many times better placed in the society than most civilians, though they might be more qualified and have worked for equal number of years, thanks to the military institution and its welfare arms.Being shunted out early in his career, he may be seen a person of average capabilities. Imran lives in Askari Appartments (valued Rs11 million) in Karachi. In addition he owns a residential plot in Defence (Rs30 million). His children study in a reputable school located on Air Force land. He pays ten times less in fee for education of his two children than his civilian counterparts. He is a member of a social club, where membership and facilities are heavily subsidised for army servicemen.This is in addition to pension and the full medical coverage that he enjoys for himself and his family. Most academics, doctors, engineers, and administrative staff on the civilian side in the same age group are not even half as secured with double the amount of private investment in their education. They are members of professional clubs and societies. Advantages if any from their participation in such schemes are much below their expectations. Even where they benefited the quantifiable gains cannot be matched to support that forces personnel get from their parent institution.The performance (service delivery and level of satisfaction amongst targeted beneficiaries) of military welfare organisations is far superior to ones created to support civilian servicemen.Federal Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani attributes better performance of military welfare organisations to superior work ethics and efficiency of military services.While talking to Dawn over telephone from Lahore the minister was all praise for armed forces. "Most obvious factors for efficient and dependable service delivery system of welfare organisations managed by armed forces include the ability of the military to enforce discipline, their orientation to work as a team, lesser opportunities of corruption and above all their nationalism that is inculcated in them by design to deliver even in trying circumstances".A leader of a professional organisation in Karachi living in a rented house in Gulshan, was bitter when approached by Dawn. He presented his views on condition of anonymity. "Army eats up share of more productive sectors. It abuses its power to perpetuate its interests both economic and political. It has created islands of peace and prosperity for itself at the cost of the nation".The gentleman was not able to explain as to what has kept civilian establishment from evolving well serving pension funds. The fact is that there is no simple answer to the riddle.A business leader who also wished not to be identified said that military at business can only be as good as a doctor on an engineering project."With quantum of support and subsidies projects run under military establishments get they are not even half as efficient as they should be. They get subsidised power, gas, raw material, face fewer bureaucratic hitches and enjoy monopolistic position in the market. No one knows the actual cost of their operations to evaluate returns. Let things come in open before praising military business sense".The federal information minister partially endorsed the view. "Yes their business concerns can benefit to an extent from their positioning", he said.Views apart, it is not wise to evaluate working of these organisations in isolation. The success of welfare in these two segments (civilian/military), to a great extent, depends on their comparative positioning in the country’s state structure.The Army, combined with Navy and Air Force, makes Pakistan armed forces the seventh largest military in the world. Besides being involved in its core mission to defend the country's borders, it has also been involved in foreign deployments under bilateral agreement with a number of countries in Middle East and Africa. It has also been committing its troops to UN peace keeping.The institution has created an excellent social welfare set-ups for its personnel belonging to all tiers from top to bottom. These systems are so designed that the interests of members of forces and those of the institution are merged perfectly.Interviews with score of concerned people confirmed that the system of education and training play their part but it is the loyalty to an institution that takes good care of them and their families during service and even after retirement that drive armed forces related people to work more efficiently.Army in Pakistan like elsewhere is so structured that it has many tiers of hierarchy and a filter system in place. Superseded officers retire in ages 42-50. Therefore, along with active force of 520,000 personnel and 500,000 reserve men there is a huge population of retirees that are taken care of by the army.To absorb these soldiers and officers and to sustain welfare activities and above all to deepen its control over the country's economy, the army is engaged in multi-dimensional activities. They have enterprises, such as studs and dairy farms, several industries such as sugar, fertilizer, brass casting etc. They are also have sizeable stakes in services such as transport (NLC, Shaheen Air), construction (Frontier Works Organization), communication (Special communication Organization), insurance, banking (Askari Commercial Bank), etc, etc.Fauji Foundation, the pension fund of Pakistan Army has invested in many projects, some are highly profitable. It manages hundreds of educational institutions, power plants, steel and cement factories. Fauji is a very well known consumer product brand name that produces breakfast cereals, sugar, electronic items etc. The foundation is a trust for the welfare of ex-servicemen and their families.Above all, the army acquires government land to develop colonies for its staff. The officers' colonies such as defence housing in major cities are best located and best equipped with highest valued plots in the country.The cantonment areas are safe, secured and well-managed. Here all services are subsidised. They are provided with health and sports clubs and other facilities that even a middle class civilian locality is totally deprived of. As a matter of fact these cantonment areas are modern model cities within the country’s mismanaged ill-equipped cities.It is, therefore, in the self- interest of a serviceman to serve the army to his best so that it becomes more powerful to be able to promote and protect his economic perks. The powerful positioning of the army in the country also imbibe a sense of pride and superiority amongst the army men.
By Afshan Subohi
Imran 41, a retired Major, supervises a security agency in Karachi from a fairly senior position. He is many times better placed in the society than most civilians, though they might be more qualified and have worked for equal number of years, thanks to the military institution and its welfare arms.Being shunted out early in his career, he may be seen a person of average capabilities. Imran lives in Askari Appartments (valued Rs11 million) in Karachi. In addition he owns a residential plot in Defence (Rs30 million). His children study in a reputable school located on Air Force land. He pays ten times less in fee for education of his two children than his civilian counterparts. He is a member of a social club, where membership and facilities are heavily subsidised for army servicemen.This is in addition to pension and the full medical coverage that he enjoys for himself and his family. Most academics, doctors, engineers, and administrative staff on the civilian side in the same age group are not even half as secured with double the amount of private investment in their education. They are members of professional clubs and societies. Advantages if any from their participation in such schemes are much below their expectations. Even where they benefited the quantifiable gains cannot be matched to support that forces personnel get from their parent institution.The performance (service delivery and level of satisfaction amongst targeted beneficiaries) of military welfare organisations is far superior to ones created to support civilian servicemen.Federal Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani attributes better performance of military welfare organisations to superior work ethics and efficiency of military services.While talking to Dawn over telephone from Lahore the minister was all praise for armed forces. "Most obvious factors for efficient and dependable service delivery system of welfare organisations managed by armed forces include the ability of the military to enforce discipline, their orientation to work as a team, lesser opportunities of corruption and above all their nationalism that is inculcated in them by design to deliver even in trying circumstances".A leader of a professional organisation in Karachi living in a rented house in Gulshan, was bitter when approached by Dawn. He presented his views on condition of anonymity. "Army eats up share of more productive sectors. It abuses its power to perpetuate its interests both economic and political. It has created islands of peace and prosperity for itself at the cost of the nation".The gentleman was not able to explain as to what has kept civilian establishment from evolving well serving pension funds. The fact is that there is no simple answer to the riddle.A business leader who also wished not to be identified said that military at business can only be as good as a doctor on an engineering project."With quantum of support and subsidies projects run under military establishments get they are not even half as efficient as they should be. They get subsidised power, gas, raw material, face fewer bureaucratic hitches and enjoy monopolistic position in the market. No one knows the actual cost of their operations to evaluate returns. Let things come in open before praising military business sense".The federal information minister partially endorsed the view. "Yes their business concerns can benefit to an extent from their positioning", he said.Views apart, it is not wise to evaluate working of these organisations in isolation. The success of welfare in these two segments (civilian/military), to a great extent, depends on their comparative positioning in the country’s state structure.The Army, combined with Navy and Air Force, makes Pakistan armed forces the seventh largest military in the world. Besides being involved in its core mission to defend the country's borders, it has also been involved in foreign deployments under bilateral agreement with a number of countries in Middle East and Africa. It has also been committing its troops to UN peace keeping.The institution has created an excellent social welfare set-ups for its personnel belonging to all tiers from top to bottom. These systems are so designed that the interests of members of forces and those of the institution are merged perfectly.Interviews with score of concerned people confirmed that the system of education and training play their part but it is the loyalty to an institution that takes good care of them and their families during service and even after retirement that drive armed forces related people to work more efficiently.Army in Pakistan like elsewhere is so structured that it has many tiers of hierarchy and a filter system in place. Superseded officers retire in ages 42-50. Therefore, along with active force of 520,000 personnel and 500,000 reserve men there is a huge population of retirees that are taken care of by the army.To absorb these soldiers and officers and to sustain welfare activities and above all to deepen its control over the country's economy, the army is engaged in multi-dimensional activities. They have enterprises, such as studs and dairy farms, several industries such as sugar, fertilizer, brass casting etc. They are also have sizeable stakes in services such as transport (NLC, Shaheen Air), construction (Frontier Works Organization), communication (Special communication Organization), insurance, banking (Askari Commercial Bank), etc, etc.Fauji Foundation, the pension fund of Pakistan Army has invested in many projects, some are highly profitable. It manages hundreds of educational institutions, power plants, steel and cement factories. Fauji is a very well known consumer product brand name that produces breakfast cereals, sugar, electronic items etc. The foundation is a trust for the welfare of ex-servicemen and their families.Above all, the army acquires government land to develop colonies for its staff. The officers' colonies such as defence housing in major cities are best located and best equipped with highest valued plots in the country.The cantonment areas are safe, secured and well-managed. Here all services are subsidised. They are provided with health and sports clubs and other facilities that even a middle class civilian locality is totally deprived of. As a matter of fact these cantonment areas are modern model cities within the country’s mismanaged ill-equipped cities.It is, therefore, in the self- interest of a serviceman to serve the army to his best so that it becomes more powerful to be able to promote and protect his economic perks. The powerful positioning of the army in the country also imbibe a sense of pride and superiority amongst the army men.