Daily Times

The contribution of agriculture to the GDP of Pakistan is around 23 percent and it engages almost 44 percent of the labour force, with the quantity of livestock at almost 160 million.

The agriculture sector is a fertile field for experimentation for “development practitioners” in the areas of microfinancing, through the mechanism of securing small pockets of agriculture land as collateral. They can also install solar panels to generate electricity; although come sunset, electricity generation natural stops, as does organic farming.

There is a village in the citrus growing area of Punjab where one can see the impact of the combined wisdom of some development organisations, which have worked on themes such as telehealth, organic versus conventional farming, and Clean Development Mechanism (a program launched under the Kyoto Protocol). Under this mechanism, existing buildings are utilised and modified as a venue to demonstrate how lives can change on a permanent basis with a minimum contribution of grant by a social welfare organisation.

Telehealth centres are run with a compounder who links the patients through a voice and visual application, to a qualified medical practitioner sitting in another city. Sceptics view this system as essentially flawed as the hands-on physical approach is missing. The provincial government has crisscrossed the province with Rural Health Care centres as well as district hospitals. There is no gender exclusivity and female patients are comfortable in availing e-health facilities, as they engage with a female consultant digitally. The term telehealth is catchy and such undertakings entail a stream of diplomats and philanthropists visiting the model centre.

While one should appreciate the noble intentions of the sponsors of such projects for the marginalised rural community in areas as remote as Wan Miana, we cannot remain oblivious to the facts that the state has installed an electricity grid spanning 400,000 km nationwide and provided door-to-door monthly cash allowances to impoverished females through the BISP mechanism. Social organisations, in terms of funding and resources, are lagging behind state-managed welfare and social activities yet are light years ahead in projecting their activities in the media and to international development partners.

A gap in social service delivery definitely still exists, and the emerging concept of a “social action consortium” is poised to address it. Philanthropic organisations in Pakistan are at times replicating their welfare-oriented activities with cost overruns, and wide gaps exist in their collective efforts

One can question the standardisation or quality, accessibility and affordability of state-run medical services and electricity. There definitely remains a gap in social service delivery and the emerging concept of a “social action consortium” is poised to address it.

Philanthropic organisations in Pakistan at times replicate their welfare-oriented activities with cost overruns, and wide gaps exist in their collective efforts, which is euphemistically termed social action consortium. It is eventually going to replace the concept of corporate social responsibility, as one drawback of the same has been a disregard of local community needs.

At one point, Sui in Balochistan provided the bulk of the country’s gas supply, but local inhabitants were not permitted to avail even the medical facilities at the hospital run by the corporate entity operating at the site.

Establishing educational institutes or hiring interns from an exclusive academic background, although appears impressive on a company’s website, does not cater to the rudimentary needs and requirements of the local community, thereby worsening marginalisation and creating a feeling of deprivation.

The needs of the ordinary citizens are small, and the resources and means to satisfy these needs are already there; all that is needed is to connect the dots. This may seem simplistic but is an appealing and workable solution, and evidence shows that positive results ensue once such empowering initiatives are launched.

Admittedly detractors may dismiss such an approach as impracticable or wishful thinking, but what if all social organisations were to assemble on a common real time digital e-portal where their individual achievements, aims, objectives and future roadmap were made available in the public domain.

Pakistan needs a shot in the arm and can project the good and noble side of its face, rather than the dark and ugly side. An opportunity exists to show the world that on a community level, we as a nation can effectively deliver on an egalitarian social model, charity and philanthropy combined. Many social organisations would have their achievements and future road map displayed digitally on the web, and our diaspora imbued with patriotism and nostalgia would not hesitate to transfer funds online to the organisation of their liking.

Online accessibility to objectives, data, financial reports, achievements, faces behind social organisations, ongoing projects and the future roadmap, will help pave the way to a stronger Pakistan.

The authors research finance and energy

Published in Daily Times, August 13^th 2018.