The CM Visit to IBA – Leadership Under Crisis: A Review

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If you weren’t bothered to sit through the talk with the CM Sindh, or harbour anti-PPP sentiments, or couldn’t bear to travel through Saddar’s traffic in the heat – here’s all you need to know about the event.

Firstly, the management turned me, and most students, away at the door after the hassle of reaching the city campus. But hey, that is what IBA does best right?

It goes without saying that Akbar Zaidi interviewing Murad Ali Shah was rather ironic – an employee grilling their boss. Quite the role reversal.

CM and his Response to the Educational Crisis

The Q&A session started off with questioning our CM about measures being taken to tackle high school dropout numbers; given Sindh has 6.7 million children out of schools between the ages of 5 and 16.

‘The biggest suffering after the loss of life has been the loss of education in this pandemic. After recognizing the gravity of the situation, our CM nonchalantly mentioned a ‘public and private partnership’. An outraged alumnus refuted his solution mentioning how it was the State’s responsibility to provide education.

A theory promulgated by Stephen Cohen states that educational repression is purposefully used as a political tactic to get re-elected.

The link between illiteracy and poverty is evident. However, this gained no traction from the CM who had no alternative solution to combat rising illiteracy and poverty in the aftermath of COVID-19.

The CM and Economic Relief

To counter the economic crisis following the lock-down, without regard for daily wagers, the CM had no such provincial economic relief package.

A federally approved relief package, which upon further research, revealed a monthly stipend of 12,000 rupees for the next four months. This was referred to by a guest in the audience, as a ‘matter of pride’ for Karachi.

Additionally, another query raised by an audience member was about combating the lack of agrarian funding.

Punjab leads with 90% of agricultural banking loans being focused there. In fact, farming and agricultural activity is the bedrock of Pakistan’s economy. However, the CM could only ask for more time, trust, and cooperation.

Lastly, Murad Ali Shah narrated a sweet anecdote of a senior citizen donating 1 million rupees for the relief package.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

In conclusion, I did learn one important thing from the talk. Successful planning will only come about from a joint effort from both parties – the state and its citizens. When mixed signals are being projected by the State, confusion and ad hoc planning was bound to happen. Disparity between the Federal and Provincial governments only added to the panic.

Likewise, IBA is guilty of this too. If we hope to create a more streamlined system, policies must be enforced across the provinces.