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The
pigeons that started coming back to Pakistan one at a time
during the last eight-year Musharraf regime have all flown
away. Using Instant Text Messaging, YouTube, emails, Internet,
cell phones they spread the bad news about risks of investing
in Pakistan.
In 2002 the Pakistan Government asked the international
community to partner with Pakistan in creating 100% Universal
Primary Education along with Adult Literacy, Basic Women’s
Health in Pakistan’s Rural Villages. This well-meaning
initiative was to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG)
set by the United Nations. For every Dollar invested by the
private sector locally and globally Pakistan promised to
rightfully invest five times the amount. The Global Pakistani
Diaspora joined and invested millions of dollars worth of time
and money for six years. The program funding was controlled by
the Pakistan Human Development Fund and the implementation on
the ground was done by the National Commission for Human
Development. The results were phenomenal, unprecedented in the
history of Pakistan in so short a span of time. Eight Million
village children were given primary education.
Now most of the NCHD schools remain closed due to lack of
long-term funding by the new Pakistan Government laying off
1000’s of NCHD teachers. The Adult Literacy Program has been
closed down. The preventive Basic Health program for infants
and mothers in the NCHD areas has been stopped. The six-year
foreign investment is going down the drain.
On Oct 17, 2008, a skeleton NCHD Universal Primary Education
program was approved by the Pak Government. Out of 80,000 NCHD
laid off village teachers 18,000 are back to work. At the same
time, a Rs34 Billion Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP)
of Rs1000 per month cash handout to the 3.4million poorest
village women has been launched to alleviate poverty. This
cash will be handed out by the area MNA’s.
By: Pervaiz Lodhie (email:
PLodhie@LEDtronics.com)
www.LEDtronics.com
www.Shaantech.com
www.PABE.org
www.PAL-C.org
www.NCHD.org
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http://www.pakistanlink.com/ledtronics.html) |
