ISLAMABAD: Pakistan lags behind India, Bangladesh and some other Asian countries when it comes to promoting research in the social sciences and hosting think tanks.

Dr Ahmed Rashid Malik recorded this in his book, ‘Think Tank: a Guide to Research Organisations in Social Sciences in Pakistan’, which was launched on Monday at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad.

The book states that Pakistani think tanks rank third in South Asia, after India and Bangladesh with just a 8.4 per cent contribution to research in the region.

With respect to the strength and quality of research, Pakistan comes after India, Bangladesh, Japan and China which goes on to show that Pakistani think tanks are performing well in spite of limited resources. They do, however, need to build their credibility by carrying out and publishing their research.

At the launch event, the author said there are 93 research organisations in Pakistan at the moment. However, many did not even have one researcher employed.

Dr Malik proposed that a regulatory body should be formed to keep a check on these think tanks. More research needs to be conducted, he said, because a lack of it can create massive societal problems with serious regional and global repercussions.

His book, which is a directory of research organisations in the country, shows that even though the country’s two biggest problems are education and energy, its think tanks are studying international relations.

Some 23 think tanks in the country are looking into IR, 20 into economics, 17 into public policy, 13 are studying history, 11 are researching linguistics and culture while nine each are exploring education and energy and the environment and seven are Islamic studies related.

Most of the think tanks are housed in Islamabad.

According to the directory, the capital hosts 53, Karachi hosts 12 and Lahore has 11 think tanks. Hyderabad and Jamshoro have four each, Peshawar has six and Balochistan hosts four.

Former ambassador Masood Khan appreciated the author’s efforts towards compiling data on research organisations. However, he differed with the author on his suggestion for a regulatory body. Mr Khan said such a body will interfere with the workings of independent research organisations.

Farhat Asif, the president of the Institute of Peace and Development Studies (IPD) which published the book, applauded the work of the author.

Interestingly, IPD also does not have a researcher, according to the directory.

Published in Dawn, November 3rd, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play