National conference: Youth should demand services in proportion to their numbers

Speakers urge govt to invest in young people.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan’s youth form the biggest constituency and they should demand services from the state in proportion to their numbers.

This was the general consensus at the two-day 4th National Youth Conference, organised by Civil Society Support Programme (CSSP), which began at the Allama Iqbal Open University campus on Monday.

During a panel discussion on 18th Amendments and Decentralisation of Youth Affairs at the conference, speakers said Pakistani youth make up 60-70 per cent of the population which means they are a significant force on the sociopolitical landscape.



Centre for Civic Education Executive Director Zafarullah Khan said the youth should not be considered a sector, but a cross-cutting theme for which policies should be made in government ministries and departments. “If youth constitute 60 to 70 per cent of consumers of Pakistan’s ministries and organisations, an equal percentage of services should be allocated to them,” Khan said.

He said everyone, especially young people, should read at least the first seven clauses of the Constitution because unless they read their social contract with the state, they won’t be able to understand their rights and responsibilities.

Speakers said Pakistan might not be able to benefit from its youth bulge if youngsters are not educated, or skilled enough to contribute to the economy during the next 10 years or so.

Khan also pointed out that for students to play an effective role in the country’s political future, they should be allowed to form student unions in universities and learn leadership skills from union activity. Student unions were banned in 1984.

Centre for Peace and Civil Society Executive Director Jami Chandio said the 18th Amendment is a significant step in a country that has a history of demonising democracy. “One of the reasons for the creation of Pakistan was the lack of an inclusive, decentralised federalism in united India.” But once it was created, Pakistan strayed away from inclusive polity and its leaders tried to create artificial unity through uniformity instead of respecting diversity, Chandio added.

He said the 18th Amendment has created the return to a parliamentary system from a dictatorship-like mode of governance in the centre and has helped provinces retain revenues from natural resources.

Speakers said the amendment’s weaknesses should be removed but efforts to reverse the amendment should be thwarted.

The conference is aimed at engaging the Pakistani youth in a dialogue about building a democratic society, said Noor Bajeer, the executive director of the CSSP, a non-governmental organisation that works on governance and social injustice. The conference will continue on Tuesday with sessions on radicalisation in society and youth participation in the political process along with speech contests and theatre performances.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29^th, 2013.