History warns! on April 16, 2020Since 26 February, when the first two cases of Covid-19 were officially reported in Pakistan, without scientific evidence social media is flooded with information which may negatively influence public perception and administrative effort. With limited data and rudimentary scientific knowledge about Covid-19, drawing conclusions about mortality rate or predicting growth pattern need extreme care to […]
Hard times on April 14, 2020The exponential spread of Covid-19 attaining a pandemic status within a few weeks, globalization of gloom and now almost a world-wide lockdown are akin to living in a dystopian world which we encountered only in surreal plots of graphic novels and Hollywood movies. Today, no one can tell with a certitude that how long it […]
Welfare State (Part II) on February 22, 2020Presently, the welfare system in Pakistan comprises public provision of health and school education services, a limited coverage of social security for a segment of labour and a provision of post retirement pension mainly for the public-sector employees. It excludes workers in informal and agrarian sectors of economy. After witnessing some initial positive results of […]
Welfare state: (Part-I) on February 19, 2020Khalid works as a driver in a private firm. He gets a monthly salary of twenty-five thousand rupees.His old mother, wife and two children depend on him for food, shelter, clothing and for other material needs. They share a single room house for which he pays five thousand rupees as rent every month. He has […]
Knowing what works in development on October 20, 2019Last week Esther Duflo, Abhijit Bannerji and Michael Kremer were awarded 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for their experimental approach in poverty alleviation. They have demonstrated that simple development interventions experimentally evaluated at small scale can offer promise of success when replicated in similar settings at a bigger scale. This approach indeed helps in […]
Going for local governance of schools on October 14, 2019A few days ago, BBC reported a local mayor in southern Mexico attacked and dragged through the streets by local farmers for not living up to the electoral promise of repairing a local road. The mayor suffered no physical injuries but his experience sent a message across the globe that how local expectations and a […]
Education policy: restoring a fine balance on March 1, 2019As an instrument of societal regeneration, educationshapes thosesocial realitieswhich make our everyday lives.Our collectivesocial and economic life today owes its origin to the choices and policy decisions which someonemade for present generation in the past. In the same way decisions and policies which policy makers make today in the sphere of education will structure our […]
Countering the elite capture of power in local governance on December 3, 2018Local governance in Pakistan has remained a contentious issue with a chequered history. While devising any scheme of human welfare a Kantian moral imperative should be the sole consideration ie doing good only for the sake of good. In specific context of framing a local governance system the only Kantian moral imperative should be the […]
Civil service reforms: Setting the stage on September 23, 2018After an interregnum of more than a decade, the issue of governance reforms agenda is again in the spotlight. Various indices of social, economic and human development tell the story of governance in Pakistan. In simple words, governance is the capacity of a state to make and implement policies. The World Bank defines governance as […]
Finding the moral compass of development on August 12, 2018Existence of good moral intentions behind every human act is important; especially in the public sphere the value of morally good intent is high because,from the streets to bureaucrats to policy makers,their decisions and actions leave imprints on the life of people.Obviously, it is neither required nor desirable to go looking for their inner motives […]