This is apropos a Business Recorder op-ed “Accelerating growth and employment” carried by the newspaper on Thursday. The writers, Shahid Sattar and Eman Ahmed, have concluded their argument by saying that “in order to accelerate growth and employment we need to develop incentives to retain our first-rate talent, capitalize on our own human resources and empower our youth to shape the policy landscape of Pakistan, as they have immense talent which is yet to be utilized.” The writers, however, have preferred not to explain what actually constitutes our “first-rate talent”. In my view, the country is full of highly talented people but they need the required training and grooming to become productive in order to become part of any national endeavor. The emigration of highly trained or qualified people from the country is a reality. In other words, Pakistan has been suffering massive brain drain since its birth. But there are some cogent reasons behind this phenomenon: they leave their country to live and work in some other country where pay and conditions are better.

TEHSIN YAWAR (LAHORE)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020