Post-pandemic challenges

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, many myths regarding modernity and scientific developments have been shattered. The foremost amongst them is the idea of globalization. Many believed that the world was turning into a global village. However, a sudden pandemic struck the world and unveiled all the imagined myths. Now the consciousness of nationalization has been increased. The majority of the people around the world are limited to their homes. A race for producing vaccines has been started, and every country wants to surpass the others. Meanwhile, many poor countries are pushed back to more poverty and more challenges for their governments. One of them is Pakistan.
The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the country in many ways: poverty, unemployment, poor healthcare, food scanty, and a severe dent in the already fragile economy are some of the areas the country has experienced since the pandemic engulfed it. It means the government needs to revisit its policies and prioritize the areas which need more attention. The first and foremost area which needs government attention is Human Capital development. The government should focus on the availability of food to the masses which disappears every now and then in spite of being an agricultural country; it should provide the masses with essential healthcare facilities, and local pharmaceutical companies should be encouraged so that enough medicines may be produced locally, and there would no hue and cry if borders closed; then it should invest in education because frequent closure of educational institution is not a healthy solution. The last but not least challenge for the government is to defuse the bomb of population explosion. The population of the country is growing swiftly and the government has no tangible policy for it. If it fails to reduce the population growth rate, there will be more mouths to feed, and with poor economic conditions and scarcity of food, there may be chaos and disorder in the country.
At this moment, around 65 percent population of the country comprises youth, the government can change it into an asset or a liability. How the government prioritizes its policies will determine the future of the country.
Ali Hassan
Mandi Bahauddin