Perhaps Federal Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb might be right in saying that the Punjab government cannot do everything on its own. But that is no excuse for some of the glaring administrative failures of her party in government. Now that officials are playing the tune of public-private partnership (PPP) especially in human development sectors, it can only be hoped that the government is somewhat aware of its shortcomings. Let us take stock briefly.
There can be no two opinions about the dismal state of education and public health across the country. The Punjab government, nevertheless, continues to pay most of its attention to infrastructure development. Though investing in highways and transportation projects is necessary to improve the business climate, it should not be done at the expense of a criminal neglect for basic necessities. These skewed priorities stand in a stark contrast to the constitutional provisions that guarantee a universal access to education and healthcare. Lofty pledges and oft-introduced reform packages have not done much to resolve the glaring shortcomings, which are thrown into sharp relief by various development markers.
A recent report by the Ministry of Education revealed that as many as 22.6 million children are out of school in Pakistan. With pathetic teaching standards, decrepit schools, under-qualified (or, in some ‘ghost schools’, even non-existent) teachers, the abysmal state of our education should not come as a surprise. Public health markers tell an equally horrific tale. The country ranks low on all social development indices. Particularly worrying is our consistently dismal performance on neonatal, infant and maternal mortality rates. And then there is the fact that an unacceptably high number of Pakistanis lacks access to the most basic of healthcare facilities.
In lieu of announcing grand delusional plans, let us resolve one anomaly at a time. By harnessing the power of the public-private partnerships that the administration points to so often, it is true that the Punjab provincial government can greatly improve infrastructure and build viable services. But investing in poorly conceived deals would only end in gains for the private consortium while the underprivileged continue to languish.
And above all, a manic commitment to infrastructure development should not be allowed to take precedence over basic investment in human development.
