THERE are several factors that contributed to the weak performance of Pakistan in terms of extending the social cover effectively and efficiently to save the vulnerable citizens — the poor, the women and the children — from dehumanising conditions of the various shades of poverty.

More than the availability of resources, it was the orientation of the security state, eroding confidence of people in the government, increasing income disparity, social fragmentation across all divisible dimensions and the absence of active citizenry that made the half-hearted exercise of achieving MDG targets more of a costly gimmick than anything else.

The focus of global advocates of the drive to end poverty in Pakistan was also not inspiring. Yes, the UNDP did provide an annual update by collecting and processing data, but did it motivate the policy-makers? Not much, if the results are anything to go by.

The donors leaned too heavily on the decadent, hierarchal, bureaucratic structures of the government and the scores of self-serving NGOs instead of propagating the agenda in society through media to galvanise public opinion. After 15 years of doling out money liberally to NGOs and the government, the baseline indicators show that savings of people in the developed world were wasted in the name of lofty goals on parasitic elements in Pakistan by equally indifferent elements on the other side of the divide; the donors.

The Dawn Business team seeks to look for clues to the riddle in the opinion of stakeholders for the benefit of those who care … and for those who should have cared

The input from the team of reporters that has put together this report reinforced the impression that the awareness about the global campaign on MDGs in Pakistani society was next to nil all these 15 years. Even educated classes and legislators had scant knowledge about the goals or the distance covered.

Pakistan climbed seven steps on the global GDP ranking from 35th in 2000 to 27th currently, but had a slide on the global Gini Index to 113th out of 261 countries and regions reviewed. The Index measures the degree of inequality in distribution of family income in a country.

Put together, the numbers means that the size of the economy did expand even if one chooses to ignore the gigantic informal economy that envelops much of the ballooning Service sector that makes up more than half of the GDP despite under-reporting. If somehow this segment is also taken into account, the actual size of Pakistani economy is bigger than reported. The fact is reaffirmed by the gap in per capita income and spending in the country. According to latest figures, the per capita income hiked to $1,513 in 2014 against almost double per capita spending. The inflow of remittance does not justify the wedge.

Besides, according to Pakistan Economic Survey, the last 15 years saw record foreign capital inflows, in loans and grants, amounting to a whooping $45bn. The horror stories of human misery in the wake of terrorism, earthquake and successive floods touched the hearts of donors who doled out liberally. There are those who believe that it was the mind — not the heart — that was touched as nations scrambled to limit the possibility of spillover of problems in Pakistan to the region.

Where did all that easy money go? The reconstruction work of earthquake is still in progress 10 years down the line and water from the last flood still inundates certain areas in Sindh.

But the tale of social wellbeing of the multitude is best told by progress — or lack of it — on MDG indicators. An analysis of the budgetary spending pattern over the past decade-and-a-half shows that revival of democracy in Pakistan has not been able to alter much the order of fiscal priority. There appears to be a disconnect between what is needed and what is done in terms of investing the public money.

In policy papers, such as Vision-2025, human capital development is often identified as the most important area for public investment, but the Sharif brothers seem to be captivated by road infrastructure and transport projects. The exact percentage is not available, but they eat up major portion of the development budget.

Pakistan has been grouped with countries referred to as ‘N-11’ (‘N’ refers to ‘Next’). It is among the nations outside BRICS, having a high potential of becoming world big economies in the 21st century. The country is sadly at the bottom in the global ranking of tax generation. Of the 261 countries assessed, it is positioned 202.

What does that mean? For one thing, it demonstrates beyond an iota of doubt that Pakistanis are not inclined to trust the government — regardless of who happens to be heading it at any given time.

In the light of our experience with the MDGs, it would be naive to expect any other outcome if the business of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is conducted in the same manner. The hierarchal structures need to be challenged and public to be involved to create a national ownership for the drive forward.

Still, the government can’t do it alone. The corporate and professional hierarchy has to realise that it stands to gain with the rest of society if development is broad-based and sustainable. In the final analysis, however, the level of achievement on social agenda will depend on the social pressure from those who stand to benefit the most from the desired change. Anyone?

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2015

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