Can Pakistan make the ‘great escape’?

One cannot continue to stand at crossroads for 72 years. There ought to be a time to settle down, introspect, chart a course and take off. Emotionally driven jingoism, religiously loaded spiels and perpetually playing to the gallery may be short-term gimmicks, but they are counterproductive to building a nation or its institutions.

Pakistan’s first and foremost responsibility is the well-being of its 210 million citizens. This task has been hugely neglected. Except for a very small coterie of rich elite who live their privileged “by-pass” lives, the majority of the population and most of the state-provided services lag behind by centuries. Education, efficient services, infrastructure, civic systems and benefits that are taken for granted in developed countries are way beyond the reach of most Pakistani citizens. At present, we have the world’s worst infant mortality rate, 22 million children out of school, ever-increasing child abuse, untreated raw sewage, absence of clean drinking water and a dysfunctional bureaucracy.

Nations that are impoverished, economically bankrupt and politically confused cannot be taken seriously. It is time for Pakistan to make a radical break from feeding clichés and platitudes to its people and also to reconsider its exaggerated self-assumed share of acting as the torchbearer of all things holy. Even lagging behind in major performance indicators such as the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals of 2030 have not been sufficient catalysts for a fresh national reassessment.

Pakistan needs to learn from economist Angus Deaton on how other countries progressed and bade farewell to poverty and misgovernance. The rules of the game have been consistent for all competitors. They used modern technology and smarter ways of performing every task to promote self-reliance, indigenous development and the local industry. Sadly, Pakistan has remained reluctant to undertake any of these changes.

Sindh does not have the capacity to issue car number plates to new car owners. We are dependent on unending foreign assistance even for tasks such as building schools, holding seminars and establishing Child Protection Units. About 44% of our children are stunted due to nutritional deficiency. The state has no mechanism to provide birth certificates to 60% of the newborn children. International underground transport networks built over a century ago remains impossible for Pakistan to this day. Should then, such a state not focus on fixing its own house first?

It is entirely possible for Pakistan to make “the great escape” from poverty and under-development. However, for this to happen the state must shed the mindset and the extra baggage that it has carried for the past decades. At least for the next 50 years, Pakistan needs an era of peace and absolute focus on economic development through rapid internal reforms that deploy new methods, modern technology and innovative approaches. Pakistan needs to adopt a strategic policy of internal focus and external restraint. This must include never getting bogged down by neighbourhood events.

Pakistan’s “great escape” is also a hostage to its burgeoning population. It may be best to learn from Iran and Bangladesh on how they controlled their populations. We can learn from Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, on how they adopted new technologies and methods for rapid industrialisation to become high-income economies. Pakistan must cease its dependence on foreign loans, letting out routine tasks such as road making and garbage collection to foreign companies and instead promote its own human, material and technological resources.

An archaic bureaucracy will continue to remain a key hurdle in Pakistan’s progress. It has no choice but to replace this burden by technology based systems and accomplished professionals, who can develop newer ways of running and transforming the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2019.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.