Pakistan desperately needed to have gender inclusivity in order to develop, former finance minister Miftah Ismail said on Sunday.
“If we ignore fifty per cent of our population, our sisters, and won’t let them be part of the development then we will never progress,” he said at the ‘Reimagining Pakistan’ seminar at the Habib University in Karachi.
The above mentioned point was one of the “10 pillars” the former finance minister shared to develop Pakistan.
PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, aide to former PM Nawaz Sharif Fawad Hasan Fawad, former PPP leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and other economists were present at the seminar.
Ismail, Abbasi, Khokhar and former Balochistan chief minister Aslam Raisani are part of a group of political mavericks holding a series of nationwide seminars on the current challenges being faced by the country. The events are aimed at developing a consensus on the future course of action required to be taken by all stakeholders to bring Pakistan out of the ongoing crisis.
“One nation” was the first pillar suggested by Miftah. He stressed the need for building a coalition for growth in which the elite people would be contributing to the economy by supporting the low-class people.
He called for “increasing the pie” to provide growth opportunities to the people.
The former finance minister called for controlling the population, wondering whether the country was well equipped to provide basic health, education and food facilities to 5.5 million children born every year.
“It was high time to have family planning in Pakistan,” he said, adding that the rising population was affecting the country’s development.
Education was the next matter, which according to Miftah was a must to come to par with the world. “We have to focus on education,” he said.
Miftah was of the view that the amount of money spent on children’s education—Rs30,000 to Rs50,000—should be given to the families as the country was not able to cater for the educational needs of the children.
Moreover, he said that women must be included in the spheres of development. It was a must to have gender-inclusive growth, he added.
Miftah, who stepped down as finance minister last year to pave the way for Ishaq Dar, said that the country should have better agriculture mechanisms in order to feed the rising population. He went on to add that the sector was important for the country’s exports.
According to the former finance minister, increasing exports, improving law and order situation, industrial protection rule, energy, currency’s value were needed to look upon.
“You will continue to go to IMF if tax to GDP is not 15% and exports to GDP are not 15%,” he said, “the government should live within its means, strengthening local government, privatisation, and institutions should do their own work. Establishment should lower their ingress in politics, it will help it to become mature.”
