COMMENT: Elusive sustainable development

LAHORE: Sustainable development cannot grow in the shade of political timidity. The real reform will begin when the people see themselves not as subjects, but as stakeholders in the destiny of their country.

Sustainable development cannot be delivered through PowerPoint presentations, donor-funded conferences, or borrowed jargon as is the practice in Pakistan. It demands political courage, the willingness to reform the existing system that mostly rewards privilege and punishes merit. Pakistan’s problem is not the absence of planning; it is the unwillingness to confront the power structures that block genuine reform.

Nations rise when the relationship between the state and its citizens is defined by accountability, not patronage. Yet our governance model remains trapped in an outdated mindset that assumes progress can be delivered from above. True state capacity grows through a process of negotiation — between competing elites and between citizens and those who govern them. When these negotiations are replaced by favours and political bargains, every reform turns into a transaction rather than a transformation.

Decentralisation is a classic example. On paper, it promises empowerment and efficiency. In practice, however, Pakistan’s experience shows that decentralisation without capacity and accountability only strengthens local elites. Our policymakers have also been slow to appreciate the role of informal local institutions — village committees, community elders, or faith-based welfare groups — that continue to function where the state is absent. These institutions, though imperfect, carry legitimacy among people and are capable of resolving local issues more effectively than distant bureaucracies.

Civil society, meanwhile, is no longer a neutral space. Some organisations genuinely represent the poor and the marginalized; others merely echo donor priorities or political agendas. Strengthening civil society must therefore go hand in hand with ensuring transparency, local participation, and independence from elite capture.

The same selective approach has haunted our economic reforms. The market has been glorified as a solution to all inefficiencies, but privatisation and outsourcing without oversight have often worsened inequality. Education, health and sanitation — the basic pillars of human development — remain inaccessible to millions. Efficiency without equity is not reform; it is abdication.

At the heart of sustainable development lies taxation — a subject Pakistan has treated as taboo. A fair, progressive tax system is more than an economic tool; it is the foundation of a functioning democracy. Pakistan continues to rely heavily on indirect taxes that burden the poor while sparing the privileged. The refusal to tax wealth, property, and speculative gains is not an administrative failure; it is a moral one.

Foreign aid, meanwhile, has often replaced domestic effort instead of complementing it. Natural resource management is another area crying for reform. Our rivers, minerals, and forests are treated as spoils, not assets. Resource governance should ensure that provinces and local communities share benefits transparently and equitably. Environmental degradation and political exclusion cannot form the basis of national prosperity.

In truth, Pakistan’s planners must accept that development is a political process, not a technical exercise. Reforms fail not because economists miscalculate but because politicians refuse to disrupt entrenched interests. Building a capable, accountable state means confronting those who profit from its weakness — the tax evaders, the subsidy hunters and the vote-bank manipulators.

Sustainable development cannot grow in the shade of political timidity. It requires a state that is not just efficient, but fair; not just powerful, but legitimate. The real reform will begin when the people begin to see themselves not as subjects, but as stakeholders in the destiny of their country.

The question facing Pakistan’s policymakers today is brutally simple: do we plan for the people, or do we plan around them? Until this question is answered with conviction and honesty, every five-year plan, every reform package, and every vision document will remain another chapter in the story of missed opportunities.