Comments on: Misconceptions about aid

By: Ram

Ram — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:08:43 +0000

There is nothing like Aid these days
It is give and take!

By: Adeel

Adeel — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 13:12:55 +0000

well, in my honest opinion, US AID isn’t serious or inconsistent with the goal it defines publicly. Ask the educationalists working in IBA, Karachi University, IED (Aga Khan University) . It seems that all of their focus is solely on improving LUMS. If you want Fullbright, you have to be in LUMS. I bet more than 90% of Fullbright MS/PhD scholarship is dedicated to LUMS. So by focusing on single institute, you cannot bring any sustainable change in the Pakistani society. Given this sad state of affairs, I believe aid is unlikely to yield anything worthwhile just like it is the case in Afghanistan. To US Aid, particularly Fulbright, do a reality check.

By: Pavas Ambashta

Pavas Ambashta — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 10:29:45 +0000

A nice article on better utilization of foreign aid but accepting aid and asking for aid are two entirely different things..Countries like China, India or Israel do not ask for aid anymore.Also, foreign aid to these countries goes mainly to different NGOs not to the government of these countries (e.g. India had repeatedly rejected British aid and so finally it ended last year)..So the writer’s argument that since these countries accept aid and so should Pakistan is erroneous..

By: BRR

BRR — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 04:30:39 +0000

Good article, with a proper perspective on the benefits of aid. One thing that the writer has not analyzed is the effect of so called aid from Saudi Arabia and the middle east in general, and how that money has benefited Pakistan or not, and what is has achieved or failed to achieve. All the cheap oil that Saudi Arabia has provided, and all that money pumped into Madarassas has had some effect, which the writer could have addressed.