Measures of our wellbeing

An annual budget, wrapped in countless statistical strands should reflect the state of the nation’s financial health. And the diagnosis offered by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday evening is supposed to be very reassuring, irrespective of the critique of the present government’s adversaries.

But what does it really mean in the context of the lives that are led by ordinary citizens? How does it affect the specific areas of our concern? Or is it, as generally expected of a budget, more of the same? The commentators and the analysts are at it with their practiced fervour and most of them see it as part of a campaign for the next general elections.

By and large though, the budget is a ritual that is attended by familiar rites and responses. For that matter, it is not a very attractive peg for my column. This is also because I do not adequately comprehend economic and financial riddles that are explained so variously by partisan polemicists.

However, I do try to catch the flavour of the week. This also means that in addition to the budget, I should be distracted by Ramazan that begins today. At least Ramazan, for an entire month, changes the rhythm of life and has its social as well as economic implications. Since food consumption increases during this month of fasting, prices become a major topic for the media and for popular discourse.

This overlapping of the budget season with the beginning of Ramazan provides, perhaps, an incentive to look at the general scene in the context of economic and social realities that exist on the ground. As an aside, let me say that the aura of piety that is so overwhelmingly enforced by Ramazan has no bearing on the values that actually drive our society.

Are we not, collectively, very corrupt and immoral in our behaviour? Do the rich and the powerful have any genuine compassion for the poor and the underprivileged as commanded by the spirit of Ramazan? Is the religiosity that we so fervently profess to possess reflected in the life that we practice in reality?

Development is the main enterprise of the present government and the budget is designed to maintain or enhance its tempo. Hence, development spending is to be increased by 40 percent and it is assumed that this will serve as an engine for economic growth. We are told that Pakistan is marching ahead to quickly catch up with more advanced economies of the world.

I was intrigued by this headline that I read in a Friday newspaper: “Pakistan will be ahead of Canada, Korea by 2050”. Given the state of our society at this time, I do not understand what these projections really mean. We do not seem to be able to calculate the levels of our affluence and poverty in terms of the quality of life of the majority of our population. If the development outlays are increased by 40 percent, what will be a sympathetic increase in the vital social indicators?

Take the example of the rate of literacy. According to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2016-17, the literacy rate was recorded at 58 percent. What it meant was that it had come down by two percent. And this had happened in the wake of a steady growth in the economy – that is constantly trumpeted by Dar – and tireless emphasis on the importance of education.

Besides, we cannot be sure about any growth that is measured statistically. There is much confusion about where these statistics come from. We have not had a census for about two decades and do not know if the present exercise will be universally accepted as credible in the existing political environment. Our sense of numbers, as such, is congenitally deficient. Administratively, we get defeated by ordinary assignments such as running primary schools.

Measuring the quality of any progress that is certified by statistics is much more difficult. But the evidence provided by instances that are reported is overwhelming. A recent example is that merely two percent of the candidates who appeared in the Central Superior Services (CSS) examinations could get through. On the other hand, universities have mushroomed.

In some ways, growth in economy that is translated in an increase in per capita income must be applauded and should affect the lives of people. Thus, it should be useful to try to measure the social impact of any economic or material gains that we make. After all, the ultimate purpose of economic progress is to enhance the quality of life of the citizens of a country.

Incidentally, it was our own economist Dr Mahbubul Haq who had argued that economic growth in itself, as reflected in per capita income, is not a true measure of the wellbeing of people. He had the opportunity to design the Human Development Index (HDI) of the UNDP that is now released on an annual basis.

Dar has announced an impressive 5.3 percent growth rate in the outgoing fiscal year. On this basis, we are told that Pakistan will soon be in the category of the more advanced economies of the world. There is no mention, understandably, of where we stand – or totter – on the HDI ladder. I feel sorry to say that in the latest report, we figured at 147. Let us not think too much about what this means.

Still, it is instructive to focus on human development when we measure our progress. The UNDP Index is an alternative approach to looking exclusively at economic growth. The idea is to include social justice in the process of understanding progress. Hence, the HDI combines health and education with economic growth in a prescribed manner.

One should also take note of the growing emphasis on what is termed as ‘wellness’ in the media. It is an integration of states of physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Unfortunately, our society appears to be in a permanent state of distress. If someone devices a structure to measure wellness, we will surely be near the end of the table.

Against this backdrop, we need some distractions to take our mind off the budget and its promises. But there is no obvious way of escaping from the enveloping reality. There is also a sense of crisis on the political front. Ramazan may keep us preoccupied, though just for one month.

The writer is a senior journalist.

Email: ghazi_salahuddin@hotmail.com