Infrastructure is a backbone of socio-economic development of any country and its institutions. A nation cannot be self-reliant unless it evolves a large-scale infrastructure network. Pakistan is a state that needs a comprehensive infrastructure to take on the path of development. Increasingly, the US has been helping Pakistan since 1960 to develop its infrastructure and state institutions.
During a recent visit to Pakistan, Dr Rajiv Shah, the Administrator of United States Agency for International Development (USAID), said the US had been working with Pakistan to further its development priorities since 1950s and ultimately the objective is helping the people of Pakistan chart their own future. “The US has helped Pakistan develop its economy by supporting the development of its water, power, transportation and communications infrastructure and by facilitating the establishment of university system. Mr. Shah further said that going further in times of conflict and catastrophe, the USAID had been providing financial as well as technical assistance to Pakistan to improve its most vulnerable sectors. The major sectors wherein the US focused during the last five years include poverty alleviation, education and energy.
Poverty Alleviation: The US played a paramount role to bring about green revolution in Pakistan. Introduction of a new variety of wheat, use of fertilizers, and expansion of irrigation system and channelization of on-farm water management by the USAID led to an increase in wheat crop from four million ton in 1967 to 9 million ton in 1977. Over 0.6 million affected farming families of 2010 floods were capable of increasing their crop production by rehabilitating their canal system and better cultivation. About 2,000 small-scale projects related to roads, irrigation, sewerage and other infrastructures have been completed recently in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA which not only facilitated six million people but also created job opportunities for the local community. To reinstate the livelihood sources, financial assistance was provided to 40,000 conflict-ridden people of Malakand and calamity-hit families in the fields of livestock, milk production, agriculture, horticulture, medicinal plants etc. Monetary assistance was also provided to rehabilitate and reconstruct 239 hotels in Swat valley to revive tourism industry. Assistance is also being provided to double the mango export which would bring about positive effects on economy especially in Sindh and Southern Punjab.
Education USAID is providing full-fledged financial and technical support to the people of Pakistan for the improvement of education, reconstruction of financial institutions, university scholarship grant, provision of textbooks and other facilities in schools, teachers’ training programmes are the key areas the USAID has provided financial and technical assistance. During the last two years, 500 schools and 90 teachers training colleges were either built or rehabilitated throughout the country. A unique television programme, Sim Sim Hamara, is being telecast to educate children from 4-6 in a very interesting and subtle way. From 2009 to-date, 10,000 university students from poor and marginalized classes were granted scholarships for higher education and 900 students were given Fulbright scholarships since 2005 so as to study in US universities to have M. Phil and Ph. D degrees. At least six public sector universities were provided financial help to reconstruct new buildings on their premises besides the expansion of Institute of Education and Research in the Punjab University.
Energy: Various projects related to power production are underway. Financial as well as technical assistance has been provided to Pakistan in 2011 to build Satpara Dam in Gilgit-Baltistan and Gomal Zam Dam in South Waziristan. Both the dams would contribute to power generation as well as provide employment opportunities while the water stored in the dams would be used for the irrigation of lands. Increasingly, farmers were facilitated with modern water pumps in agriculture areas of the country for the irrigation of lands that resulted in to a 20 per cent decrease in electricity bills.
