Pakistan's underdevelopment can be attributed to her low confidence in the social capital. It is caught in the wrong western philosophies of development models, such as trickled-down and neo-classical development paradigm.
These development models along with many inappropriate and unsustainable projects have led us to the debt trap.
In an attempt to secure repayment and bail out financial institutions, the structural adjustment programme (SAP) were developed by the IMF and the World Bank with focus on cut in government spending and increased export. These caused major social disruption as people's basic needs were denied.
If Pakistan had capitalized on its inherited social capital, there would have been a different socio-political scenario. The confidence of East Pakistan would have not shattered in two nation theory of which they were the architect. Mistrust, violence and extremism would have not been an integral part of our society.
There is a need to look at the social assets that Pakistan inherited and how Pakistan can utilize those resources for social development. An assessment of Pakistan's underdevelopment and its causes reveal that at the time of independence, Pakistan had social assets in forms of family bonds, national ideology, strong sense of nationalism, community organizations, commercial organizations and government.
However, it could not convert the inherited social assets into social capital and through out its history could not develop adequately political stability, enabling environment for business and community organizations and a vibrant civil society.
The social capital has significant importance for sustainable development in a society. A nation remains dependent on the supportive policy of the state towards the establishment of health and education facilities, free economic activities, adherence to merit system, rule of law, accountability mechanism and mutual trust among the people as a crosscutting factor.
The education systems in schools happen to be good when there is strong relationship between teachers, students and parents. The doctors and nurses may serve better if the community's representatives are part of the hospital's set up. Most importantly, the network for information dissemination plays a crucial role in poverty alleviation.
Now, the question is how to utilize available social capital in the process of development? The answer lies in the application of true participatory approach in governance, planning, and execution.
The beneficiaries of the development programmes should be given opportunities to participate at every stage of the programme. In fact, being part of the development programme, the beneficiaries will have more ownership and the benefits of the programme will go in a better way to the targeted segment.
A participatory environment for development initiatives, in fact, infuses confidence in people on their own capabilities, state apparatus and on the over all development struggle.
The participatory management practices have always been missing in Pakistan; be it is politics, governance or administration. The experiences of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) and the Grameen Bank have proved that the poverty alleviation programmes can be successful if beneficiaries are at the centre of these activities.
They have improved the quality and quantity of social capital as their micro credit programmes by providing opportunities to community to come together and work in teams.
Community organizations, women organizations or village organizations have increased interaction among the community members in the designed models, which have enhanced confidence of individuals on their abilities and on social institutions.
Now, let us see how the social capital can help us in socio-economic development. There are a number of direct outcomes of the active social capital. In a society where common traditions and beliefs prevail, the negative conflict and violence are less.
If the people of a community share their happiness, sorrows and leisure times, they also protect each other. In the far flung areas of Pakistan where administrative machinery hardly exists, the people themselves jointly through the 'Mohalla Committees' and 'Chowkidari' systems protect their lives and property.
Even, where administrative machinery is available and active, without the support of community they are not able to discharge their duties effectively; be it is the case of public health centres, schools, development programmes or combating crimes. The examples are all around us in rural and urban areas alike in Pakistan.
Our experience show that the higher is the social capital, the better is the impact on the trade and commerce. Educated and trained human resources are considered as the key to the socio-economic development.
The investment opportunity increases where the social capital, such as trained human resources are available, peace and harmony, and merit system prevail. However, high investment is not the only answer to socio-economic questions, for investment the appropriate projects need to be selected.
The appropriate projects which are compatible with the social values and are supportive to the eco systems are the correct answer to the problems of socio-economic development.
Therefore, a strong civil society and confident individuals can act as a watch dog and guide the policy makers to create people-friendly options for investment.
It may be asked if some of the components of social capital are social values, beliefs and culture of a society which should be adhered to for socio-economic development, then how the change is possible? The existing social values, beliefs and culture have roots in centuries, some of which seem outdated and are not compatible with the modern development approach.
Social values, beliefs and culture, in fact, are not static for a society, these keep changing, though at slow pace. The change can be faster if there is effective leadership in the society.
The effective leaders may influence the values, beliefs and culture of a society by increasing trust, confidence and enhancing strong human relationship among the members of a society. In Pakistan, we can observe that neither political, nor community leader has emerged on the national scene because of vested interests'.