Daily Times

One of the fundamental political manifesto and ideologies of Prime Minister Imran Khan has been the long-standing vision of transforming Pakistan into a societal model similar to Riyasat-e-Madina, i.e., the Islamic version of a welfare state. The government is working on various socially responsible initiatives, especially under the “Ehsaas Program” spanning from education, health and job opportunities for the under-privileged to various other philanthropic activities. However, what is still missing in this socially responsible model of Riyasat-e-Madina is a synergistic blend of public and private social sustainability. Both systems work on apparently disjointed socially responsible paths. Private organisations practice such reforms under the banner of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Corporate Sustainability. Research states that in the context of a developing country, the socio-economic indicators mostly depict poor performance being led by weak governmental reforms. In such situations, consumers expect various social reforms from organisations operating in developing countries, which are the responsibilities of the government in Western countries. Due to political and economic instability in developing countries, the community develops expectations of socially responsible behaviour from organisations. This also holds for Pakistan, where consumers practice high levels of philanthropy and also expect the organisations to step up whenever the country faces any social challenge or natural disaster.

Due to political and economic instability in developing countries, the community develops expectations of socially responsible behaviour from organisations

An Islamic welfare state requires developing and adopting a structured Islamic Corporate Socially Responsible (ICSR) system based on public-private partnerships. ICSR is a concept derived from CSR but based on Islamic ideology and teachings. Under this ideology, socially responsible activities are structured in line with Islamic teachings of societal welfare. Philanthropy is a part of ICSR most widely practised in Pakistan since it is a collectivist society and follows the teachings of Islam by practising ICSR for societal welfare. According to research conducted by the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the charitable contributions of people in Pakistan amounts to more than one per cent of the country’s GDP. This is greater than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) percentage contributed by developed nations like the US or the United Kingdom. Approximately 98 per cent of the people in Pakistan donate to charitable causes through various platforms. This makes the country more charitable at the individual level than developed countries like the US, UK, and Canada. During the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, people in Pakistan contributed thousands of dollars to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Relief fund for helping the people who lost their livelihoods due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Reports revealed that Pakistan nationals were engaged in socially responsible activities around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority of these people cited Islamic teachings to be the reason for their perceived importance of social responsibility, all of which come under the realm of ICSR.

However, the research on Pakistan reveals that organisations lag in implementing and disclosing ICSR practices in the presence of high individual socially responsible activities. In many countries like the US, UK, China and Malaysia, organisations must disclose certain CSR or sustainability initiatives publicly. ICSR is a basic pillar in the vision of Riyasat-e-Madina, and it should be inculcated in the requirements for organisational mandatory public disclosure. Regulations can be formulated in which organisations are required to dedicate and publically disclose a specific percentage of their earnings on specific ICSR initiatives such as education, health, environment, or any relevant sector. This important ideology can play an important role in facilitating Pakistan to attain United Nations-Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) 2030. ICSR initiatives are directly linked with several UN-SDGs (No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-Being, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Clean Water and Sanitation, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Climate Change, Life Below Water, and Life on Land). Public-private partnership on ICSR is the key to the attainment of social and environmental sustainability in Pakistan. Reforms are required in the development of ICSR adoption and reporting to truly embark on the road built on the true ideology of Riyasat-e-Madina.

The writer is an Assistant Professor at IBIT, University of the Punjab, Lahore