It seems ludicrous that following the footsteps of the Food Adviser Shaukat Ali who advised people to eat less, the Special Assistant for Power and Energy has asked industrial units to reduce gas consumption and also to install own power plants. The newly elected President of the FBCCI has dismissed the Special Assistant’s advice as a prescription to destroy the country’s economy. It is a reasonable guess that like businessmen dealing in essentials and MS rods disregarding the caretaker government’s repeated requests, gas and electricity users would also do the same. The writ of the government seems to have become limited to the courts where politicians are facing trials and the Secretariat. If making windfall profit by making the people hostage is corruption, then perhaps we are seeing the worst of it now. One bulb off will save 50 megawatts of electricity said the Special Assistant. By the same logic, all bulbs and fans off will make us surplus in power. If people eat one half –meal a day instead of two square meals, there would be no food problem. There should be a limit. The situation has become farcical enough to hurt saner sensibilities. Finance Adviser has blamed the business community for the price spiral but he is possibly not aware the people are blaming the caretaker government for its failure to manage the affairs of the state. Never in the history of this land all round suffering had reached such dizzying heights. Newspaper photographs of long queues before OMS trucks and BDR shops tell a tale that prompt us to hide our faces in shame. In a situation like this the Food Adviser’s definitions of silent famine and hidden hunger only add insult to the injury.  The nation is passing through a difficult time. Total concentration on breaking the back of the politicians has left other more or equally issues unattended. Timely import of food items would have spared the people of this suffering, power management could also keep wheels of the industry running etc. The Chief Adviser should take note of the reality that the sufferings of the people are in fact enhancing the image of the very politicians his government is trying to discredit. Political parties are talking about launching movements. Before things reach a boiling point he must take the initiative to inject some dynamism and pragmatism into the administration.

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