Document page
economics sectionPDF 47
47 pagesrevision 9084
PDF 47
Page image rendered from the stored file at 110 dpi; it sharpens as you zoom. Outlines are placed from each region’s stored position on the page (596 × 842 pt).
readable
Source of this text: embedded text layer. The better of the embedded text and OCR is kept.
earthquake or any natural disaster, you can see that that family’s trajectory can be
majorly affected. The children will no longer be able to study, they will not be able to
go to school. So, while I want to make sure we have good health systems, because
when we talk about talent, we don’t only require physical talent, physical ability, we
require health as well. If a person is sick, he will neither be able to work, nor study.
But the particular aspect of health that needs to be addressed is health insurances,
preventing against shocks. You know, there are families that face sudden health
problems, a family member requires a kidney transplant for instance, that requires a
crore of rupees in medical expenses. The family will bear the expenses, because,
Alhamdolillah, as a people we have the quality where we look after our own. We’ll
sell everything if need be. And the patient may recover. But the family is now under
crippling debt, for life. And so, we as a state should never have any citizen be in a
situation where they suffer a shock, a calamity, through no fault of their own, and as
a result, their future, their children’s future, is compromised for the next several
decades. We should not allow that to happen.
I honestly think if you do these three things, this is my naive view of the world, you
will start seeing better institutions, you will start seeing more accountability to
politicians, you will start seeing people entering politics who are more interested in
these things.
There’s a great paper by Pakistani researchers Saad Gulzar and Yasir Khan. They
have a paper on KPK, on encouraging new people to enter politics. And it doesn’t
take that much. A bit of a nudge, a little encouragement, a little reassurance that
there is not so much risk. Right? But that can only happen when you have a talented
pool of people. This talented pool of people are the ones who will demand better
services, who will call the Chief Minister’s cell if they do not receive adequate service
delivery in government offices, who will hold politicians accountable. And this is the
pool of people who will enter into these professions, who will eventually become
bureaucrats, become politicians, join the Army, go into business. You know, these
are the sets of people who change things. That’s what I would do. And, I don’t think
it’s that hard. I mean, it’s not that easy, but it’s doable.