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staggering losses which the taxpayers had to bailout. PSEs knew that they did not have to face competition, turned out to be fleecing their hapless customers. And money spent on running steel mill, airline, hotel, grocery, trading was not available for basic infrastructure of the economy. A political reality characterized by strong patron-client relationship in Pakistan found it exceedingly difficult to administer a vast public sector without it being used for the patronage that party workers expected and demanded from their leaders. As a result, the PSEs became hugely overstaffed as leader after leader sought to provide jobs for the boys. The political elite have used these PSEs systematically as a patronage tool to fortify their power base. Obviously they are against to give it up now. The workers in the PSEs have enjoyed job security, relatively decent pay and very little pressure to perform. Obviously they will be reluctant to give this up. The political leadership, professed to care for the lot of the poor, is against restructuring and privatization and defends the status quo. Such a stance is manifestly anti-poor. The eight PSEs are bleeding; they have outlived their usefulness and instead of contributing to the national economy they have in fact become a burden to the national exchequer. They have been exempted from the discipline of the market as well as public authority; though they count on the government to provide guarantee to back their creditworthiness, thus causing contingent liabilities to soar. The issue at hand is the financial viability of these PSEs. Can they survive without budgetary support? How long the government continues to inject money to keep these bleeding institutions afloat? Does it make sense to add thousands of workers in already bankrupt institutions? Is it economics or brutal politics? Should we continue to oppose restructuring and privatization? Will status quo work in a financially starved country? The answers to all these questions are in negative. Pakistans financial health is not in a position to support these bleeding institutions any more. Pakistan needs resources for educating its people; providing them health care, safe drinking water, roads, highways, electricity and security. Rs.245 billion per annum is sufficient to provide these facilities. Let these resources be diverted to improve the living standards of the millions of voiceless Pakistanis. Is restructuring a solution for these PSEs? My experience suggests that it is a waste of time and resources. Institutions like Railways, PIA, Steel Mill and WAPDA have been restructured many times in the past but they are still bleeding profusely. Simply changing the face at the top will not make them financially viable. The board and the CEO cannot transform the loss making institutions into profitable ones. The only solution is the privatization of these institutions without wasting time and money; even these are sold in just one rupee each. At least this will save more than Rs.245 billion every year which can be spent on voiceless millions. The writer is director general and dean at NUST Business School, Islamabad. Email: ahkhan@nbs.edu.pk