The nation represents the country. The UN Human Development Report 2023-2024 categorized Pakistan at 164th place in the list of 193 countries in terms of human development. It essentially means that Pakistan’s nation occupies an unenviable status among the above-mentioned countries. The situation becomes even more perplexing to realise that ours happens to be a nuclear state above all.
Sadly, when we consider the overall view of our nation, it appears to be more of a rudderless crowd than an organised nation. Roads are the right venue to judge the behaviour of the literate, semiliterate and uneducated class of people. Observing them behave in a typical uncivilised manner on the roads speaks for the nation. We were never like this a few decades ago. Why did we slide down to such a low level, as compared with other nations? What went wrong and who’s to blame for it?
It’s the primary duty of the incumbent government to give top priority to human development. The poverty line touching 40 per cent in itself speaks poorly about how the various governments in the near past ruled over the country. I strongly feel our ruling governments are huge, especially the country’s bureaucracies. Forgive me for quoting Mian Mansha once again when he claimed that two-thirds of our civil bureaucracy has no real work to do. It only means the poor nation feeds the bureaucrats living in great style, having official houses, expensive vehicles, chauffeurs and domestic aid. In other words, the enormous amounts of foreign loans taken from the IMF are mainly consumed to maintain the higher echelons of society and their perks and privileges.
How will the status of our human development improve when the budget allocation on education is as low as 1.7 per cent of the GDP and the population growth is galloping?
When Shahbaz Sharif became the prime minister, he advised to exercise austerity in all government departments. But austerity should not only be preached but also observed by the public. Prime Minister Sharif’s government will do well to revamp the bureaucracy by slashing it to a minimum required level in public interest. The prime minister has a reputation for making radical decisions and ensuring their execution. Let it be a test case for him to disband many unneeded departments and innumerable so-called authorities.
It’s depressing to realise what future the uneducated and unskilled young men will have in the country. Except for Karachi, the majority of people in rural Sindh and Balochistan provinces remain uneducated and unskilled. I recently met an educated young lady who belongs to interior Sindh. She works as a professional tour guide in the northern areas and has to compete with local unlettered men. Her sheer courage guides her. When I lamented that the majority of people in Balochistan are uneducated, she suggested visiting Sindh to learn about the exceptionally poor state of education and human development.
Neither the Mirs of Sindh nor the Sardars in Balochistan are interested in the education of the lower segment of their people. The overall situation of human development remains dismal in both provinces. Recently, the Balochistan chief minister sacked 2000 teachers for absenting themselves from the schools for a long period. In other words, ghost teachers were running ghost schools and pocketing salaries.
Without proper education at all levels, it’s not possible to ensure human development at the national level. It’s the basic duty of the government to allocate a substantial amount of funds for the education of its people. With a fast-growing population and many young men out of jobs, the government must provide funds to its technical and vocational institutions run by TEVTA and the Punjab Skills Development Authority. After enrolling in these institutions, young men will learn technical skills to help them find jobs within and outside the country.
Pakistan spends 1.7 per cent of its GDP on education. Such a meagre investment in education won’t bring any positive change in an important sector of human development. The official literacy rate remains at 60 per cent, which means 40 per cent of the population is illiterate. A serious question arises. How will the status of our human development improve when the budget allocation on education is as low as 1.7 per cent of the GDP and the population growth is galloping? The think tanks in the country must bring this issue to the notice of the government. As well, the columnists of our national newspapers may frequently remind the government about our embarrassing position regarding human development, which is 164th among 193 countries of the world.
The writer is a Lahore-based columnist and can be reached at [email protected]