Lost in the dark

Pakistan is the fifth largest country in terms of population, and over 60 percent of its population comprises people between the ages of 15 and 35. That there is such a huge number of young people in the country means that there is great potential for development. However, a recent report by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) titled ‘Pakistan opportunity to excel: now and the future’ presents concerning data: 31 percent of the country’s graduate youth, between the ages of 15 and 29, is unemployed. Worse still, it reveals that the unemployment rate of graduate women is around 51 percent. These figures reflect the fact that successive governments have failed to provide jobs to them. This lack of policy initiatives has caused unemployment rates to soar, which invariably leads to brain drain, or worse still – crime. The incumbent regime must devise job-oriented policies to employ people instead of making hollow promises.

Sajjad Khattak

Attock