Look at the bigger picture

Detail by which we analyse numbers in any given dharna is rarely seen analysing why we don't meet development goals.

We are losing sight of the big picture. Our preoccupation with who said what and when, and what it means for the soul of collective society is seriously affecting our ability to pay attention to the very real problems of our society and our time. The mud-slinging between various powerful groups, character assassinations, conspiracy theories and accusations of overstepping institutional sensitivities is, unfortunately, not new. Just like some national sporting event, it engages us all, with passions high and emotions raw. But with every new instance, we find room to descend further down. We stoop to new lows, wishing malice and ill-will on those who oppose our views and leaving little room for any rational discourse. More importantly, we lose sight of the bigger problems and the future of the country that should be well above political affiliations or of personal opinions of journalists.

Speaking of our national challenges that need a lot more attention and our collective action, recent data points to some major problems in both governance and policy implementation. Data, as we know, is the enemy of political hyperbole, so it does not hurt to pay attention to real data every now and then. First, let’s start with data that is not real. Recent findings and admissions by the government have suggested that the polio drives of the past were hampered not only by a lack of will, unclear policy design and poor implementation, but also by outright fraud. The fabricated data suggested that we were doing a lot more than what was actually happening on the ground. The implications of these startling findings are unclear and it is also unclear what is being done to stop this from ever happening again.

Lets now turn to some other recent data. Studies on newborn mortality put Pakistan at the top among the countries with the worst neonatal survival statistics. This is certainly preventable and needs to be addressed immediately. Reports of rubella in Sindh is the newest dark chapter on preventable infectious diseases making a reappearance in the country that is battling polio, dengue and measles. The data on poverty in the country and the recent drought in Sindh is also quite alarming. Challenges in primary, secondary, postsecondary and higher education that range from access to books to lack of toilets in schools, do not generate any momentum for development.

My point is not to paint a less-than-rosy picture of our challenges, but to instead express my bewilderment at our extreme preoccupation with what so-and-so did in a particular home video, or why a particular media worker said something he or she should not have said. It is one thing for it to be a dining room conversation, quite another for it to make headlines in every news bulletin. The level of detail by which we seem to analyse the exact numbers in any given dharna, or discuss the details of another record-shattering national anthem singing extravaganza, is rarely seen in analysing why we are not on track to meet our basic development goals, why our basic health commodities are not reaching those who desperately need them, or why text books are inaccessible to the young boys and girls who want to go to school.

There seems to be an inverse relationship between the growth in the size of our challenges and the time we spend on addressing or even discussing them. As our development challenges get bigger and bigger, we dedicate less of our time and effort in thinking about how to change course. We have two options: either we can start thinking seriously about how to solve our development challenges, or start hoping that the next morning talk show will have all the solutions.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2014.

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