6 research outputs found
Analysis of Issues on Micro Credit—The Case of Two Villages in Punjab
No full textThe phenomenon of poverty was felt and observed more during the decade of 1990s, as the overall growth slowed down. While the slowed economic growth and recessionary trends contributed to poverty, the trickle “down effect” once thought, to improve living conditions, did not reach the lowest level owing largely to lack of accessibility of institutions, unjust and non-poor policies. For these reasons, in Pakistan during the decades of 60s and 80s, when the country experienced high growth rates of 6-7 percent, 34 percent of people still lived below the poverty line. Socio-economic development, improving the quality of life in general and of rural poor in particular, welfare have been the prime stated goals of government. Therefore, rural development programmes, such as, Village-Aid, Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), Peoples Works Programme, Tameer-e-watan Programme, Prime Minister’s Five Points Programme etc. were introduced to improve farm productivity, which would consequently improve incomes and quality of life of rural poor. This was done through the Department of Local Government and Rural Development. Little impact on the life of the rural poor, however, was observed partly because these were administered through closed, immutable and cloistered institutions of government which are not accessible and responsive to the needs of poor. Also, the lack of focus on community participation and need for it was evident. As these programmes were managed through government departments these lacked flexibility and out-reach. The approach of administering was fixed, rigid and lacked professionalism.
Capacity Building in Public Sector Organisations
No full textDuring the last two decades the world has experienced a major transformation in thinking on the role of government in provision of services and socio-economic development. This change in thinking has come about as a result of the inability of two major philosophies of production—capitalism and socialism—to redistribute resources for the improvement in the living condition of the masses. Both the philosophies have shortcomings. Capitalism encourages entrepreneurship and growth, but it also creates extreme economic disparities leading to poverty. Socialism in its attempt to create an egalitarian society curbs and stifles entrepreneurship, leading to discontentment and economic inefficiencies. Developing countries have followed, by and large, a mix of these philosophies but the result has not been encouraging in most of the cases. Economic distortions and inefficiencies have been the common outcome. In addition, human development indicators and the quality of life in these countries has fallen far below the minimum acceptable standard. Inequitable distribution of resources is attributed to the absence of a participative and democratic political structure on the one hand, and mismanagement of resources and the absence of a facilitative administrative structure on the other. The latter attribute is now commonly termed as poor ‘governance’ of resources.
Sartaj Aziz. Between Dreams and Realities: Some Milestones in Pakistan’s History. Karachi: Oxford University Press. 2009. Pak. Rs 595.00.
No full textThe geo-strategic location of a country gives it advantage or
disadvantage in its relation with the comity of nations and addressing
its domestic challenges. The vision, acumen and capacity of political
leadership, however, determine the maximisation of advantages from
geo-strategic location in attaining the national interests. Interplay of
domestic political power, geo-strategic location and global power
dynamics are aptly reflected in the political history of Pakistan as
narrated in “Between Dreams and Realities”. “Between Dreams and
Realities” is both an autobiography and dispassionate account of
Pakistan’s chequered history as the author puts it “watched the
political drama as ring side observer.” The author was actively engaged
in roles, confronting formidable challenges to improve policy
coordination and implementation. A sequenced political, economic, and
foreign relations history of Pakistan is described illustrating turning
points, milestones, and debacles in her existence as a country. The
political scenario of Pakistan, marred by intermittent military
takeovers, with disregard, and mutilation of the constitution, mainly
served personal interests. The rulers, irrespective of whether elected
or otherwise, conjoined survival of their rule with that of the country.
Thereupon, usurpation of power is legitimised by engineered elections or
putting in place pliable judiciary. The indiscipline in political
parties, absence of vision, political inexperience, self-centered, and
headlong political leaders, increased the vulnerability of parliament to
complete its tenure. Weak organisation of political parties is, thus
easily maneuverable to the wheeling, dealings, and gaming of
‘establishment’. This is amply visible in all military takeovers of
elected governments, right from throwing of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s
government to dissolution of Nawaz Sharif’s government in
1999
The Bureaucratic disconnect in collaborative institutions: A Case of Rural Water Supply in Punjab, Pakistan
No full textThe collaborative model for rural water supply (RWS), introduced at the behest of international funders in the 1990s, experienced only partial success owing to the low accept- ability of public managers and the slow process of community development (CD). This article goes into the empirical findings of a study that is based on in-depth interviews with 20 staff and line public managers of the four RWS in different regions as well as on content analysis of policy documents and funding organizations’ reports. The results indicate that appropriate CD, reforms in internal organization arrangements, and understanding of context-specific social, economic, and political diversity remain necessary in collaborative compliance with institutions for RWS sustainability. The study aims at making a contribution to the theory of collaborative governance and the practice of collaborative implementation in developing countries
The relational factors in managing rural water supply in Punjab, Pakistan
No full textThe Punjab Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and community-based organizations (CBOs) collaboratively manage the rural water supply (RWS) system in Punjab, Pakistan since the mid-nineties. In a command-and-control administration, a collaborative approach to managing RWS is atypical. The study addresses this gap by analyzing the relational behavior as a monitoring and enforcement mechanism to ensure community compliance with government-produced institutions for managing RWS. Four focus group interviews were conducted with the CBO members and the survey of households from the same villages. Using the partial-least square structural equation model (PLS-SEM), the mediating influence of frequent communication, commitment of users, and shared meaning on community compliance with institutions was analyzed. The integrated results from the two methods imply that trained CBOs better self-organize, as they communicate frequently with the community members. It is recommended that for the sustainability of the RWS system, regular government support for CBOs underscores the success of collaborative collective action, though trained CBOs better manage RWS in weak monitoring by the government.
HIGHLIGHTS
Relational factors are under studied in managing RWS.;
The mixed method is used to understand and explain the relational factors.;
The study combines community development, collaborative theory and compliance literature to explicate sustainability of collective resource.
Readings and Experiences of Multimodality
No full text Our understanding of reading—including reading multimodal texts—is always constrained or opened up by what we consider to be a text, what aspects of a reader’s embodied activity we focus on, and how we draw a boundary around a reading event. This article brings together five literacy researchers who respond to a human-scale graphic novel, comprised of over 300 large-scale paintings, recently exhibited in an art gallery and also published in print form. The researchers' responses reflect a variety of theoretical orientations, including postcolonial theory, critical theory, affect theories, new materialisms, social semiotics, and reading development theories. The author of the novel also reflects on his own creative processes and goals. These various responses, and the multiple modalities of the work itself, are intentionally juxtaposed in order to create productive tensions, contrasts, and open spaces for reconsidering how multimodal texts are read and experienced. Dimensions of reading as a meaning-making, affective, embodied experience are productively put into play with one another. </jats:p
