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+--- Thread: MORE REMITTANCES, DRAWING ROOM EXCERCISE (/showthread.php?tid=5479)
MORE REMITTANCES, DRAWING ROOM EXCERCISE - javed - 02-28-2009
Dr. Farooq Sattar after taking over as Minister for Overseas Pakistanis in his first statement stated that remittances from Overseas Pakistanis (OPs) will increase as the government was taking steps to achieve it including sending more workforce abroad. His statement surely is based on summary prepared by the bureaucracy which is expert in drawing such beautiful green garden designs sitting in air conditioned offices over coffee and free phone chat on office expense.
2. Under the title "Indians being to return from as the Gulf dreams crash", Siddhartha Kumar in Business Recorder of 18 February 2009 writes that the construction companies in Dubai have booked planes next month to fly 20,000 to 30,000 workers back to India while white collar Indian professionals and technicians are facing the axe from UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain etc. Business Recorder 19 February 2009 in its article "Remittances from South Asians in Gulf drops by 9%" says that the Pakistan with 56% of its remittances coming from the Gulf is expected to be hit in the second half of 2009. The whole world knows there is no more scope at least at present and in the very near future of any large scale foreign workforce employment in the middle east.
3. Our governments always plan high profile schemes like last week's one for providing the Overseas Pakistanis (OPs) tele banking whereas the normal banking has become hard for them. Our own resources due to the unfortunate law and order situation mainly created by outside forces can not afford us such schemes for OPs which involve spending of national money where even a common service like the ATM is not available to all in big cities like Karachi, Islamabad. Dr. Farooq Sattar fortunately belongs to a real educated class not merely a certificate holder and more particularly from 120 sq.yds residents lower middle class. I am also resident on a similar 120 sq.yds in the same Federal B Area of Karachi which is the birth place of MQM. Dr. Sattar with present set up I very much doubt can practically deliver anything to the OPs. Raising big slogans of providing this and that, making Karachi a Hong Kong only suits other parties like PPP not to educated people like that of MQM. Dr. Farooq Sattar and MQM taking the opportunity of its presence if can do two very simple things will be as big as that of getting the whole Kashmir annex to Pakistan. The first one is taking advantage of its majority hold in Karachi City Local Government, it saves the 1975 established Mehran Town Housing Scheme for Overseas Pakistanis situated in Korangi from the hands of encroachers and gets it officially declared as a small cottage industrial area. According to JANG and The News at present anyone without any fear can sit on any plot in this Scheme the only thing needed is to erect a bamboo flying "a" political party's flag over. Every government claimed that OPs were very dear to it. Nawaz Sharif sloganed that the OPs whether holding Pakistani passports or foreign were Pakistanis, Pakistan was their home and they belonged to one family. He further stated that they can any time come their home Pakistan and do whatever they wanted. But same Nawaz Sharif after taking form their pockets for Qarz Uttaro immediately created a separate National ID Card for Overseas Pakistanis/Pakistan Origin Card only and only to fetch and generate more money. Dr. Farooq Sattar/MQM taking its presence can well do if it takes up seriously that those OPs who after having served abroad for 20 or more years when come back permanently as endorsed on their Passports by the Pakistan Embassies, are treated as pensioners and are allowed to join National Savings pensioners scheme. This is a minor thing but elite bureaucracy would not like to do it as this idea does not involve any expense from the national exchequer and this bureaucracy likes only those schemes on fetch huge expense. Those Governments who can not do such small things needing no task force, no expenditure etc how can their words be trusted.