Social sector failure

IN ITS annual report released on Wednesday, the World Bank acknowledges that Pakistan has made an economic turnaround with GDP growing by an estimated 5.1 per cent in 2002-03 in comparison to the previous year and inflation remaining at a low 3.3 per cent in the same period. But while saying that Pakistan’s economy has grown more than those of other low-income countries in the past year, the report also points out that social sector growth in comparison has fallen behind. The report notes that although the educated and well-off urban population in Pakistan lives not so differently from their counterparts in other countries of a similar income range, the poor and rural population comes out badly when the same comparison is made. This indicates to a widening gap in the country between the rich and the poor that is not seen in countries with a similar income level. Equally disturbing is the disclosure that poverty has continued to grow. The level of poverty reached 32.1 per cent of the total population in 2001-02 as against 30.6 per cent in the previous year. This tells us that the poor in Pakistan are getting even poorer.

Pakistan’s record in the social sector is indeed dismal, and the neglect of this sector has been repeatedly pointed out. According to the United Nations Development Programme, Pakistan slipped in the Human Development Index (HDI) from 138 to 144 in 2001 as compared to the previous year. Of particular concern is the country’s high child mortality rate. Overall, the social sector has suffered from years of indifference and under-funding. Human development, particularly health and education, have never been the priority of our planners and policy makers. Pakistan’s failure to realize the importance of human capital formed through education is reflected in the low allocations for education in the five-year plans. In the Eighth Plan, it has gone up to a bare eight per cent, in comparison to three per cent in the Seventh Plan and less than two per cent in the Sixth Plan.

International financial institutions have commented that Pakistan falls in the category of countries where advances are being made in some areas but resources or policy deficiencies are blocking progress towards several key goals. For its part, the government says it has committed a significant part of its foreign assistance to social sector development. In August, the government announced that half of the five-year $3 billion aid plan from the US would be earmarked for social uplift. Similar commitments have been made about other assistance programmes. What remains to be seen is how serious the government is about implementing a long-term strategy which will help address the issue of social development in a country which does not have a good record of following through. This is the area on which the government should now concentrate so that the lot of the people of Pakistan improves with the passage of time. Otherwise, the economic achievements of the country will bear no direct relevance to the common Pakistani, no matter what government planners and spokesmen may say.

An unkind cut

THE Bush administration’s decision to cut off funds going to an Aids prevention programme in Africa defies all logic. The contention is that one of the agencies dispensing the programme is also helping China with its family planning programme, which the Bush Republicans equate with promoting abortion. There has been a law on American statutes since 1985 that prohibits the release of funds to any group or agency that may be seen to support or promote abortion, but it was applied with some discretion in the past. The Bush administration, driven by the religious right, has shown no such compunction, and that it should now invoke this law to hold back funds to combat the spread of a killer epidemic on the impoverished continent reflects its reactionary mind-set. It is indeed ironical that the Republicans’ pro-life stance on abortion should be at the cost of another pro-life effort to save people from dying of Aids.

It is not the administration alone that has a myopic view of things when it comes to helping out Africa with its Aids prevention programme. The US Congress also did its bit of trimming of the overall $15 billion Aids package that President Bush had pledged during his recent visit to the continent. Of the $3 billion due to be released to the programme this year, Congress only approved $2 billion which, after the application of the anti-abortion law, is now being held back. That this is a very unkind cut is plain for all to see. It does not help lift America’s image in the poor African countries where hundreds of HIV-infected people are succumbing to Aids on a weekly basis simply because they cannot afford expensive medicines patented in rich countries — most of them in the US. Surely, policy makers in Washington can find a way round the abortion law and restore the fund. They should know that it is they who will carry the guilt of willingly letting helpless people die if they do not act now. The sooner policy-makers in Washington wake up to this reality the better, because the NGOs implementing the Aids programme in Africa cannot afford to hire professional lobbyists for the purpose.

Heritage sites

THE decision by the Evacuee Trust Property Board, a department of the federal government, to lease a Hindu temple in Karachi, designated as a protected structure, to a commercial builder is unfortunate and shows a general lack of appreciation of our cultural and historical heritage. Situated in the heart of the city’s commercial district, the temple has been handed over to the builder for 30 years — who plans raising a five-storey building on it even when the lease period is so short — at the bargain price of Rs 365,000. What is perhaps even more disturbing is the manner in which the lease was granted. The Karachi Building Control Authority initially refused the builder’s request, but he persisted and eventually obtained approval. This reportedly happened after the Sindh culture department deleted the temple from the list of protected sites on the grounds that it was in a dilapidated condition and therefore unfit for use.

One would like to understand the logic used in approving the lease. The argument that the structure had become dilapidated and was in disuse should never have been considered in the first place. Heritage buildings deemed worthy of protection are usually quite old, and hence likely to be not in the best of condition. In fact, part of the reason for protecting and preserving such structures is precisely because they are in a run-down state. The whole idea behind according government protection to historical buildings is to preserve them for posterity, and this means taking measures to prevent them from falling apart, not selling them off to a commercial builder who will tear them down. The case should be investigated, the lease cancelled , and the officials concerned should be required to explain why the temple was taken off the protected list and approval granted the second time. Moreover, there are innumerable period havelis and houses in Lahore, Karachi and other long-settled cities that are in a dangerous condition and which are actually inhabited. The government should take steps to encourage renovation and preservation of such buildings also.