Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his recent spate of public meetings and inaugurations of mega projects, old as well as new, argued that the promise of naya (new) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) made by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan was unmet. As proof of his contention he cited his survey of the area in a helicopter, the implication being that there were no new roads, no new physical infrastructure, reflective of development. Imran Khan in his jalsa in Swat challenged Nawaz Sharif's definition of development and stated that sustainable development must begin from social sector development particularly education and health and be followed by development of physical infrastructure.
There is no doubt that mega projects, including road building favoured by the Prime Minister, generates economic activity and fuels employment opportunities that, in turn, stimulates consumption thereby promoting national productivity to cater to higher demand yet imbalances in Pakistan's economy account for a break in this theoretical series of interlinked improvements. Productivity is highly dependent on law and order as well as supply of energy with the two remaining impediments to growth in this country in spite of some recent improvements. In addition, smuggling across thousands of miles of our border with India, Afghanistan and Iran accounts for smuggled as opposed to locally-made products to meet a significant portion of our local demand. And finally, the road building is being undertaken without appropriate allocation for maintenance of roads already built which has implied a steady deterioration over time requiring the much more costly road building afresh once roads become impassable for vehicles.
Higher outlay on social sector development particularly education has the potential to generate economic activity but in the long run that is more sustained for three reasons. First and foremost, education would enable the public to be more keenly aware of the benefits of personal hygiene and the benefits of immunization, which would reduce the cost of health. Secondly, education has long been regarded as a viable means to generate resistance within those susceptible to fundamentalist views. While Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) has been attracting the educated Muslims, unlike the Taliban, they are largely those who feel disenfranchised from the communities they inhabit. This leads to the third element of why investment in education can lead to more sustained growth: by awareness of their rights within a democratic setup, their right to choose which project has greater priority, communities can in fact demand greater transparency and accountability of their elected leaders.
It is relevant to note that Business Recorder undertook an independent anecdotal survey of the gains, if any, of the PTI government in KPK which concluded that the police force was seen to have become depoliticized and attendance of public sector teachers/health workers visibly improved. However, even though the PTI government did raise outlay on education significantly yet given its paucity of funds it is clearly insufficient to meet the needs of the children of the province. In addition, there was a demand for a greater say in projects within communities, for clean drinking water, sewage facilities, relative to more road building which reflects the importance of devolution of powers to local bodies.
Tony Blair when he was first elected in 1994 enthusiastically took ownership of the ongoing peace process in Northern Ireland which was begun by his predecessor John Major. To dismiss the good works supported by the general public that were or are being undertaken by one's political opponents instead of taking ownership and subsequent credit is unfortunately an integral component of our political culture; though not a sign of a mature democratic political party. Pervez Elahi as the Punjab Chief Minister must be praised for setting up a system that dealt effectively with street children, a system that was abandoned by Shahbaz Sharif.
To conclude, one would strongly advise our political leadership to take ownership of the good works of their opponents instead of rubbishing them as that way lies greater praise and more political support.