Suffering youth

The strongest feature of Pakistan has now become its weakest link as majority of the burgeoning youth is looking to leave the country for better opportunities elsewhere. While more developed countries look to their youth as an opportunity, Pakistan is least bothered to cater to its youth population. Economic woes, political uncertainty, rampant corruption, dearth of opportunities, low standard of living and now with climate change added to the list, the young masses have no choice but to resort to other means to build their lives.

The harsh reality is that those at the helm are not keen on promoting youngsters and want the dynamics of power and allocation of resources to stay within themselves. This is why dissenting youth groups have long been systematically suppressed by the state. Even the government lacks a youth voice that can speak on behalf of all those struggling. A simple job no longer pays the bill and qualified students with master’s degrees are seen opening up food stalls or resorting to mediocre jobs to keep food on the table. If their education and skills are better appreciated elsewhere, why they would want to stay here — the government must seriously ponder over this.

Considering the brain drain crisis the country is currently facing, the government neither has anything in store to address the matter nor has provided any incentives to stop the outflow. We must learn from other countries and use the immense potential the youth possesses in developing local systems from the grassroots level. Testing this at the entrepreneurial level has been somewhat beneficial for Pakistan but it needs to be expanded even further through investments. Only the youth are able enough to pave a path through the economic and ecological crises. Therefore, it would be better suited to systematically pass them the mantle than to see them slowly leaving the country for good.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2023.

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