NA session: Minister on improving HDI ranking

Minister underlines need for better coordination between departments to improve HDI.

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal underlined the need for better coordination between departments to improve the Human Development Index (HDI) in the country. “Pakistan’s ranking is 164th on HDI. This is because poor governance, insufficient allocations for social sector and lack of coordination,” he told National Assembly in response to a question. The minister pointed towards three indicators meant for measuring the HDI and said, “Lower growth rate and underfunded social sector” resulted in failure to provision of opportunities to citizens in education, health and economic sectors. “The government has now dedicated a special wing for coordination among the federal and the provincial governments and persuading the provinces to spend more in the social sector,” the minister added.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2013.