We fail to understand why the PTI government has appointed such a confused and indecisive person, Jahanzeb Khan, as Chairman FBR, the most critical organisation in the country for its economic security.
Immediately after his appointment on 29 August, 2018, TV analyst Rauf Klasra had rightly pointed out that this PAS officer of 15th CTP (Common Training Program) was well known as a yes-man for Shahbaz Shareef, enabling and rubber stamping almost all his costly projects like the Orange Train white elephant, the Clean Water scam, and the 56 companies scandal. Even now, he is facing NAB cases in these cases, and has to appear before NAB every few weeks to record his statement.
Perhaps because of his fear of being arrested at any time, Jahanzeb Khan has so far failed to display any initiative, leadership or even basic grasp of the situation of his current post. Ever since being appointed as Chairman FBR, he has simply wasted months listening to pointless briefings and presentations by the different Wings of FBR, while delaying decisions on burning issues. He has completely failed to understand the tax system and reasons for revenue shortfall, or develop any vision for improving the tax policy and administration.
His reserved and aloof attitude has resulted in utter chaos in FBR, with frequent infighting among the Members and DGs, a free-for-all in the field, and an alarming Rs. 121 billion revenue shortfall in the five month "easy period (July to November 2018 period). If he continues on this track, we fear that the shortfall will balloon to over Rs. 500 billion by the end of the financial year, as steeper targets are placed in the remaining months.
Most of the time, he is found hidden in his office, rarely interacting with his subordinates, and presenting a blank and dumb expression in meetings. He is fond of listening to negative gossip about officers, which makes him an easy target for those who want to misguide and manipulate him to their own advantage.
Ultimately, after listening to negative feedback (gossip) from every Member of the Board about every other Member, and having no justification or excuse about his miserable failure in meeting the revenue target, he shifted the blame on the infighting Members and got the government to suddenly remove five of them on 30 November 2018, an unprecedented event in the history of FBR.
But it is funny to note that he himself was unprepared for this change, because over the weekend, he was asking different people about who to post as their replacements. Because he knows no one in the department and does not have frequent interactions with them, he was again easily manipulated to post sure-failures against two posts, leaving three posts still vacant (four, if the post of Member Legal is also counted – the incumbent retired without any replacement a week earlier). All of this shows the unplanned and haphazard approach to running this huge and vital organisation. Because of this, an atmosphere of uncertainty and frustration prevails throughout FBR, as no officer is willing to work in a situation where no one knows what will happen, why people are being transferred and posted haphazardly.
Ms. Seema Shakil has been posted against the most important post of Member IR Operations, responsible for over 85% of FBR's revenue. While the lady is admittedly honest, she has never worked outside Karachi, and more importantly, never worked in FBR before at the junior level. Actually, she was removed from her position as Chief Commissioner LTU Karachi just a month ago for her continuous failure to meet her targets, and complaints from the business community that she was shy of meeting and discussions with them to address their problems. Due to her incompetence, inexperience and lack of confidence, most of the field officers do not take her seriously.
Even more important is the fact is that many of the Chief Commissioners have been recently posted on their positions by outgoing Member IR Operations Habibullah Khan, for reasons other than merit (see my earlier post). Obviously, the people who have “invested” huge sums of money to get their lucrative posts will have little reason to work for the revenue, and that too under such a shy and insecure lady.
Mr. Hamid Ateeq Sarwar, a BS-20 officer, has been posted as Member IR Policy, another very important position. But again, he was also removed from his position as Chief Commissioner RTO Rawalpindi just a month ago for continuous failure to meet the targets. Also, he too has never before worked in FBR and is therefore completely unaware of how policy and budget is prepared. Added to this is the government’s half-baked idea of making policy by a separate Policy Board sitting in the Ministry of Finance. Included in this Policy Board are so-called experts like Mr. Shabbar Zaidi and Abdullah Yousuf, both well known as Musharraf-era manipulators, who frequently manage to get such influential positions in order to benefit their clients. Shabbar Zaidi runs his own accounting firm and Abdullah Yousuf represents the powerful energy lobby. Conflict of interest, anyone?
We can see from this sorry saga that contrary to the much-hyped promises of PTI government to bring in good governance, justice and transparency, the situation in FBR reflects the same old pattern of cronyism, corrupt practices and blatant flouting of merit. When the leader himself is confused, indecisive, and under a cloud, the organisation will surely fail in its objectives.
So once again, I predict that if this state of affairs continues, the PTI government can forget its lofty targets, because the revenue shortfall will accumulate to Rs. 500 billion by the end of the year.
Immediately after his appointment on 29 August, 2018, TV analyst Rauf Klasra had rightly pointed out that this PAS officer of 15th CTP (Common Training Program) was well known as a yes-man for Shahbaz Shareef, enabling and rubber stamping almost all his costly projects like the Orange Train white elephant, the Clean Water scam, and the 56 companies scandal. Even now, he is facing NAB cases in these cases, and has to appear before NAB every few weeks to record his statement.
Perhaps because of his fear of being arrested at any time, Jahanzeb Khan has so far failed to display any initiative, leadership or even basic grasp of the situation of his current post. Ever since being appointed as Chairman FBR, he has simply wasted months listening to pointless briefings and presentations by the different Wings of FBR, while delaying decisions on burning issues. He has completely failed to understand the tax system and reasons for revenue shortfall, or develop any vision for improving the tax policy and administration.
His reserved and aloof attitude has resulted in utter chaos in FBR, with frequent infighting among the Members and DGs, a free-for-all in the field, and an alarming Rs. 121 billion revenue shortfall in the five month "easy period (July to November 2018 period). If he continues on this track, we fear that the shortfall will balloon to over Rs. 500 billion by the end of the financial year, as steeper targets are placed in the remaining months.
Most of the time, he is found hidden in his office, rarely interacting with his subordinates, and presenting a blank and dumb expression in meetings. He is fond of listening to negative gossip about officers, which makes him an easy target for those who want to misguide and manipulate him to their own advantage.
Ultimately, after listening to negative feedback (gossip) from every Member of the Board about every other Member, and having no justification or excuse about his miserable failure in meeting the revenue target, he shifted the blame on the infighting Members and got the government to suddenly remove five of them on 30 November 2018, an unprecedented event in the history of FBR.
But it is funny to note that he himself was unprepared for this change, because over the weekend, he was asking different people about who to post as their replacements. Because he knows no one in the department and does not have frequent interactions with them, he was again easily manipulated to post sure-failures against two posts, leaving three posts still vacant (four, if the post of Member Legal is also counted – the incumbent retired without any replacement a week earlier). All of this shows the unplanned and haphazard approach to running this huge and vital organisation. Because of this, an atmosphere of uncertainty and frustration prevails throughout FBR, as no officer is willing to work in a situation where no one knows what will happen, why people are being transferred and posted haphazardly.
Ms. Seema Shakil has been posted against the most important post of Member IR Operations, responsible for over 85% of FBR's revenue. While the lady is admittedly honest, she has never worked outside Karachi, and more importantly, never worked in FBR before at the junior level. Actually, she was removed from her position as Chief Commissioner LTU Karachi just a month ago for her continuous failure to meet her targets, and complaints from the business community that she was shy of meeting and discussions with them to address their problems. Due to her incompetence, inexperience and lack of confidence, most of the field officers do not take her seriously.
Even more important is the fact is that many of the Chief Commissioners have been recently posted on their positions by outgoing Member IR Operations Habibullah Khan, for reasons other than merit (see my earlier post). Obviously, the people who have “invested” huge sums of money to get their lucrative posts will have little reason to work for the revenue, and that too under such a shy and insecure lady.
Mr. Hamid Ateeq Sarwar, a BS-20 officer, has been posted as Member IR Policy, another very important position. But again, he was also removed from his position as Chief Commissioner RTO Rawalpindi just a month ago for continuous failure to meet the targets. Also, he too has never before worked in FBR and is therefore completely unaware of how policy and budget is prepared. Added to this is the government’s half-baked idea of making policy by a separate Policy Board sitting in the Ministry of Finance. Included in this Policy Board are so-called experts like Mr. Shabbar Zaidi and Abdullah Yousuf, both well known as Musharraf-era manipulators, who frequently manage to get such influential positions in order to benefit their clients. Shabbar Zaidi runs his own accounting firm and Abdullah Yousuf represents the powerful energy lobby. Conflict of interest, anyone?
We can see from this sorry saga that contrary to the much-hyped promises of PTI government to bring in good governance, justice and transparency, the situation in FBR reflects the same old pattern of cronyism, corrupt practices and blatant flouting of merit. When the leader himself is confused, indecisive, and under a cloud, the organisation will surely fail in its objectives.
So once again, I predict that if this state of affairs continues, the PTI government can forget its lofty targets, because the revenue shortfall will accumulate to Rs. 500 billion by the end of the year.
