By YesPakistan.com Staff Writer

Pakistan's economy, you may be surprised to know, improved drastically in a period of over 20 years. But sadly, this has not been reflected in improving the lot of the average Pakistani.

Overall, Pakistan's real income per capita increased by a whopping 231 percent between 1970 and 1993. This was the highest rate of increase in all of South Asia. But sadly, the country's progress on the plane of human development at the same time did not correspond to this boom.

Such is the paradox of Pakistan, a country which has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world, but, interestingly, some of its highly educated people have dominated many international forums. In addition, Pakistan's human capital abroad represents some of the finest talent available, not to mention millions of dollars of investment.

There are few countries in the world which show a larger gap between their performance on economic growth and human development than does Pakistan. The discrepancy is even more obvious when compared to the performance of other countries.

For example, in economic terms, Pakistan's real per capita income (in PPP dollars) is about 75 percent higher than India's. Yet it lags behind India in adult literacy and most other social indicators.

This comparison is even more disturbing when made with Sri Lanka, which is comparable to Pakistan in terms of per capital income.

Pakistan's adult literacy rate is 36 percent, compared to 90 percent in Sri Lanka. The country's average life expectancy is ten years lower than Sri Lanka's. Pakistan is 45 ranks lower than Sri Lanka on the Human Development Index (according to the rankings in the Human Development Report 1996), despite the fact that the difference in their per capita income ranks is only 22.

To put it simply, the difference between Pakistan and Sri Lanka's human development ranks is twice as high as the difference in their ranks. This indicates how poorly Pakistan has translated its income into an improvement in the lives of its people.

There are a number of reasons for this discrepancy between economic growth and human development in Pakistan. Some of these include: an extremely skewed income distribution; no significant land reforms; the heavy burden of defense and debt servicing on small budgetary resources; a very corrupt ruling elite, just to name a few.

Another major dilemma the country faces is the steady deterioration in its institutions. There is still a problem establishing public accountability. Although Pakistan inherited a strong civil service, it is now not only very politicized, but also demoralized. Over 90 percent of recruitment in government service and corporations is based on provincial domicile, not merit.

And in the midst of this discrepancy, the common Pakistani struggles to improve his or her lot in life. While some do succeed in breaking out of the cycle of poverty, they are very few. For the average Pakistani, who is ambitious, honest and hardworking, there seems to be little hope to relieve him or herself from the daily struggle against deprivation in terms of basic needs and education especially.

Pakistan is clearly a country of weak institutions. But on a positive note, it is made up of strong individuals.

This lack of advancement in the area of human development is why organizations like the Human Development Foundation and others are needed to fill in the gap. Since the country's institutions are so weak, despite the presence of strong individuals seeking advancement and self-reliance, the majority of Pakistanis remain poor and illiterate.

Capitalizing on Pakistan's strength, which is its self-reliant and ambitious people, HDF has successfully improved the lot of thousands of Pakistanis through its projects in every province of Pakistan. Whether it's through the micro-credit program, which offers easily accessible and interest-free loans to hard working and honest individuals who are usually turned down by the country's financial institutions, or its schools, which use the talents and skills of local teachers combined with the thirst for knowledge found in young and poorer Pakistanis to provide basic education to an ignored segment of the population.

All of these programs aim at empowering Pakistan's strong individuals, who must not remain in the abyss of poverty and illiteracy due to weak institutions and the government's often misguided priorities.

It is high time that Pakistan's leadership make a concerted effort to use the country's enormous economic potential to give a much needed boost to the country's human development. This must be done on a large scale, since efforts of groups like HDF are a virtual drop in the bucket of poverty and illiteracy.

Date/Time Last Modified: 6/18/2002 8:06:37 AM

© 2004, Human Development Foundation. All rights reserved.
1350 Remington Road, Suite W, Schaumburg, Il. 60173
Toll Free: (800) 705-1310 | Email: info@yespakistan.com | Privacy Policy