ISLAMABAD, Oct 6 (APP):Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday called for treating education, health, population, and human resource development as national emergencies to help Pakistan compete in a rapidly changing global environment.
“Education is a national emergency; health is a national emergency… So, all of these social sectors need a national emergency,” he said in a televised address at a mission meeting on human resource development, the seventh of the 11 national economic missions under “Uraan Pakistan.”
The minister said Pakistan needed long-term planning, inter-provincial coordination and administrative reforms to improve human development outcomes.
Ahsan said the country had repeatedly failed to implement long-term plans because of political instability and policy discontinuity, while other countries pursued 10-15 year plans and moved ahead.
“We also have to make up for what we have lost in the past in terms of time,” he said, adding that Pakistan had the potential to overcome challenges if it acted with urgency.
He stressed the need for effective local governments as a third tier of government, saying excessive centralisation within provinces was hampering quality service delivery at the grassroots level.
“The solution to this centrality is to make effective local governments, to make a third tier of government,” he said.
The minister said human resource was the key to development, but Pakistan’s literacy rate stood at 63 per cent, far below the level required for sustainable progress.
“If we think that we will progress with 63 per cent, then we are fooling ourselves. We cannot do it,” he remarked.
He also highlighted the need to achieve universal primary enrolment, address child stunting, improve health and maintain a balance between population growth and available resources.
Ahsan said Pakistan’s population growth rate had increased from 2.4 to 2.55 per cent, warning that an imbalance between population and resources could perpetuate poverty and social unrest.
“In fact, in my opinion, these are more important projects than those we make with cement and concrete,” he said, stressing that investments in education, health and population required continuity over at least a decade.
He called for stability of tenure for officials working in social sectors and performance-based contracts with clearly defined key performance indicators (KPIs).
The minister said the Planning Ministry would provide research and technical support to relevant ministries but would not seek credit for their work.
“Our only interest is that what we have planned, it should get done,” he remarked.
Ahsan also stressed the need for Pakistan to adapt to rapid technological change, particularly artificial intelligence, and focus on developing human resources capable of competing in the emerging global economy.
Source: APP (Associated Press of Pakistan)
