by Najm us Saqib in The Nation, Jan 23, 2023
……Is Pakistan a poor country? The answer is no. Look around and see if you come across anyone without a cell-phone. Somehow, food is available for everyone as there is no emerging food crisis. Secondly, the dreadful macroeconomic figures do not seem to correspond with those invisible but estimated figures of the informal economy. If society truly reflected the reported macroeconomic situation, you would already have experienced wide-scale protests, civil war, looting and the gathering of millions in protest, and that too by their own volition…!! Bottom line? Evaluate the official figures projected by the government or the State Bank but try assessing the real-world verisimilitudes yourself.
That does not mean the people of Pakistan are living in paradise. The answer is somewhere in between. A few indicators might suggest the kind of societal environment we are breathing in. Travel from Islamabad to Lahore at any time of the day. Let me know if you survived the traffic particularly before reaching Rawat without cursing the idea of traveling by road. Contact any lawyer on any legal issue and you will soon lose confidence in the entire legal system of the country. Go to any hospital or clinic or visit any doctor or dentist and you will be mentally and financially exhausted while going through various unnecessary tests and that too, much before your ailment is diagnosed. Try getting a plot in any of the housing societies or start building a modest house for the family and you will become well acquainted with the nuances of deceit and mental torture. Visit any government school and ask the teachers a couple of questions on the subjects they teach. In response, see how they tell you stories about the meager salaries they get and how difficult it is to make both ends meet.
…… Have you noticed the mushrooming of beggars all over Pakistan? The new begging techniques could con rich and poor equally. Last but not least, try lodging an FIR at any police station without any outside help. Anecdotally, one must look for either a powerful sifarish or be ready to pay handsomely for any job in Pakistan, particularly in the public sector. This way, you could get a pilot’s job without ever traveling by air. It is surprising to see medical doctors practicing with fake degrees. Even more surprising is the fact that patients actually recuperate after following the hurriedly scribbled prescriptions by such quacks. This is Pakistan…!!! The land of the pure…!!!
You must be wondering about the point I am making after stating the obvious…!! Here it is. The point is very simple. Elections will never be the panacea to reverse the process or change anything on the ground nor mutate the mindset of both the rulers and the ruled. A total societal overhaul is needed if Pakistan wishes to take off or at least set the ball rolling.
……Frankly, to put the country back on track, you need a Jinnah, a Mao Zedong, a Mahathir, a Lee Kuan Yew, a Nelson Mandela and a Mother Teresa to work together as a team for a considerable period of time. Or, simply put, what Pakistan needs right now is a powerful but honest Scrum Master, who should facilitate an agile development team to manage, communicate, self-organize and make quick changes in accordance with laid down principles. ……
Who should the Scrum Master be, I leave it to your better judgment.
https://www.nation.com.pk/23-Jan-2023/pakistan-in-need-of-a-scrum-master
