An airconditioned room. A bureaucrat babu sits behind the desk covered with official and important looking papers. Just outside his office, he has a personal assistant who answers to his every whim and request. In the lot outside glints a government provided car which shines brightly as the driver polishes it for the umpteenth time. A low ring of a phone in the distance makes it look as if the babu is the centre of the universe.Â
He can be likened to an ant trying to haul a large piece of food back to its anthill. The illusion turns to delusion as he thinks the world cannot function without him. Even though, in reality, he is an insignificant part of an obsolete system which is rotting from the inside.
In such a world, the policy makers and the bureaucrats feel that they have the solution for every ill and problem in the country. Due to this position, it is their honour, nay, duty, to make sure they are looking out for the little man. It makes them feel as if they are the messiah to the downtrodden and they can end up being heroes of the poor. Sadly, they are all mistaken. Rather than helping the poor man out, they end up creating new problems and issues which would not exist in the first place.
Case in point, the price capping policies that governed drug prices in Pakistan for the longest time. It was thought that there was a need for the bureaucrats to look after the quality of medicine being sold in the country while also looking to have a price controlling mechanism. For the manufacturers, this meant that the regulator was able to control the price of the medicine being sold. The content in this publication is expensive to produce. But unlike other journalistic outfits, business publications have to cover the very organizations that directly give them advertisements. Hence, this large source of revenue, which is the lifeblood of other media houses, is severely compromised on account of Profit’s no-compromise policy when it comes to our reporting. No wonder, Profit has lost multiple ad deals, worth tens of millions of rupees, due to stories that held big businesses to account. Hence, for our work to continue unfettered, it must be supported by discerning readers who know the value of quality business journalism, not just for the economy but for the society as a whole.To read the full article, subscribe and support independent business journalism in Pakistan
