WITHIN a month of their oath-taking, the newly elected members of the Legislative Assembly of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) adopted a resolution demanding the granting of full constitutional rights to the people of their region. The assembly also passed a similar resolution on Sept 29, 2014.

In the earlier resolution, the demand for the integration of GB as a fully fledged fifth province of Pakistan was put forth. However, in order to accommodate the stance of the government of Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, which links the fate of GB with Kashmir, the assembly has gone on to modify the resolution and demanded the integration of GB as a province in Pakistan provisionally until the final resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue in line with the relevant UN resolution.

The provisional demand for its integration as a province is based on the precedent set in the 1963 Pakistan-China border agreement for demarcation of the boundary. It was specifically stated that this international treaty was provisional and subject to ratification after the final settlement of the status of this area. The disputed status of this area has been repeatedly reiterated by the Pakistani government before all forums, including the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The people of the region look at the arrangement through a different lens. To them, the area had acceded to Pakistan as an independent entity once locals had liberated GB, and Pakistan had accepted the accession in a two-way agreement. This should have settled their status. Unfortunately, instead of formalising this agreement, the government of Pakistan chose to enter into the infamous Karachi Agreement of 1949 with the leaders of the All Jammu & Kashmir Muslim Conference who did not represent GB, and subsequently the administration of this region was handed over to the Pakistani government without their consent.

The youth of Gilgit-Baltistan question the continued disregard for the rights of the people of this area.

The de facto administrative control of the area by the Pakistani government is based on the following two fundamentals:

I) Resolution adopted by the UN Commission for India and Pakistan on August 13, 1948. Part-II A(3) states that this territory will be “... administered by the local authorities under the surveillance of the Commission”.

II) The general will of the people for accession to the state of Pakistan that has been repeatedly expressed through unwavering loyalty, commitment and patriotism. The people of the region take pride in the fact that the Northern Light Infantry, an army regiment of this area, is the most decorated regiment of Pakistan with hundreds of martyrs who have laid down their lives defending the state of Pakistan in all conflicts with its enemies.

Despite the above, the federation has not allowed the local population to administer their affairs independently through their elected representatives as per the United Nations resolution. Under escalating demand for constitutional rights, various governments have incrementally and reluctantly given limited powers to the elected representatives of this area. This process was initiated by the first Pakistan Peoples Party government, but none of the subsequent governments has met the demands of the people for full constitutional rights.

All important decisions that have a direct impact on the daily lives of the people of the area are being taken in the name of the Gilgit-Baltistan Council that has a total membership of 15, of which only six are elected indirectly by the local legislative assembly. The remaining members are the nominees of the government of Pakistan. The council unilaterally has been extending federal laws to this region without any consultation of the directly elected assembly. 

Similarly, the legal structure provided for the governance of this area has no sanctity and can be amended through a presidential decree. Even the judicial structure with temporary appointments of the judges by the Pakistan government raises questions about their independence in adjudicating key issues in which the federation is a party.

This de facto control of the area by the government is based solely on the general will of the populace as it does not conform to the benchmark of self-rule envisaged in the UN resolution. The withdrawal of this general will is likely to create a legal void severing any legal linkage with the federation. The government has failed to understand and appreciate the gravity of the emerging discontent, which has been catalysed by a very high level of education and awareness amongst the youth who question the continued disregard for the rights of the people of this area.

The obvious neglect of the area in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects in the Planning Commission’s list of schemes shown on its web page and imposition of custom duties and income tax without the involvement of the elected assembly are key issues which are a source for concern amongst GB residents. These are issues which have attracted recurring protests and increasing expression of resentment on social media.

Although the Pakistani government had set up a committee to look into the constitutional issue, there have been no concrete outcomes as a result of its deliberations, and the government has continued to ignore this matter of national importance. Purportedly, China has also expressed its concern about the legal status of the area as access for CPEC projects is from GB.

The provisional provincial status could place this region within a broad legal framework and ascertain legal linkage with Pakistan. As the present governance structure is not in line with the UN resolution, it is vital that in order to protect the legitimacy of the presence of the Pakistani government in this area, the people’s demands are taken seriously and specific legal arrangements formalised.

If GB cannot be accepted as a province even provisionally, another alternative is to deal with it as a disputed autonomous region and enter into a formal agreement with the local stakeholders representing diverse areas of GB. An undiluted democratic structure needs to be set up with sole authority to deal with all matters that have a direct impact on the lives of the locals, specifically taxation and usage of its natural resources.

Continued neglect is not an option. Disregard of the legitimate demands of the area will have serious implications for Pakistan and its highly important development projects in the form of CPEC.

The writer, a former IGP Sindh, belongs to Gilgit-Baltistan.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2016

The writer is a former federal secretary.

IN recent years, there has been a great deal of hype about ‘skilling Pakistan’ and capitalising on the ‘youth bulge or demographic bomb’ in Pakistan. Sadly, there is not much on the ground: we are 147th out of 148 countries in the Human Resource Development Index and 133rd in the Global Competitive Index. It is estimated that only 8pc of workers in Pakistan receive training, compared to 15pc in Bang­ladesh, 18pc in India and 25pc in Sri Lanka. 

The textile sector alone needs at least 140,000 new trained workers every year to enhance production or replace former workers. The capacity of all textile-related training institutes in the country is only 12,000 trainees per year. It is no wonder that our exports continue to reflect stagnant or negative growth, with shoddy manufacturing, poor processing, high wastages and the lowest per capita productivity in the region. 

Education, vocational skills and technical training are at the core of sustainable, inclusive and value-added economic growth. Both the latent and active workforce needs to be developed for future investment as well as self-employment options supported by management training programmes and business incubators. Already, the continuous neglect of human resources is manifesting itself in radicalisation and criminalisation of the youth in the country. 

There is no dearth of policies, strategies, skill development boards, steering committees, workers’ councils and public-sector vocational and skill development institutions: there are skills development councils, technical and vocational training authorities, the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) and others, but the trainings and certifications are not standardised and much of the equipment used is obsolete.

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There should be a clear national agenda for skill development.

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Their total output remains low because of severe structural problems, poor governance, rampant corruption especially in Sindh, and lack of clarity after the 18th Amendment. The women development centres in the provinces are especially pathetic, as these are decrepit and almost non-functional. 

Finally, there are no vertically integrated and structured linkages with the industry since the private sector is not involved in leading and directing skill development initiatives in the country as is being done in Europe, India and Egypt. This typical apathy was the reason behind the Apprenticeship Ordinance 1962 that made it mandatory for industrial establishments employing more than 50 people to hire a minimum of five workers as apprentices. Needless to say, that policy failed.

These multifaceted problems need to be faced squarely. The government needs to view training as an investment rather than a burden. There should be an unequivocal and clearly articulated national agenda for skill development. While amendments in the apprenticeship law are already on the anvil, the national skills development legislation recommended by the National Task Force should be introduced. Relying simply on SDCs, committees etc will not work: the entire educational infrastructure needs to be galvanised.

In the first instance, the government should make it mandatory for all secondary schools, public and private, to include vocational training options so that choices can be offered and respect for vocational training embedded in the minds of the young, as is being done in the UK since 2004. On the tertiary level, polytechnic colleges should be strengthened and expanded to focus on technological and applied education such as engineering, electronics, computer sciences, accounting, designing, town planning, etc, and affiliated with universities. 

In their turn, universities and general education colleges which have so far remained aloof from vocational and technical training must be taken on board to provide the physical and institutional infrastructure for a robust vocational education system, and to develop and offer, for insta­nce, sandwich deg­rees with three years undergraduate program­mes supported by one year in­­­­­t­­­­ern­­ships. 

The NAVTTC has set up a framework for national vocational qualifications standards for curricula designing and authentication of training. However, it needs to be translated into concrete curricula and standardisation procedures with the help of HEC, the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority and the private sector in line with international requirements. 

More important is the need to establish separate sector-specific skill development councils on the lines of Indian councils which can impart specialised state-of-the-art training in different sectors to make them globally competitive. These can include existing and untapped sectors such as plastic toys, medical textiles, hospital equipment, and electronics to propel investment in the manufacturing industry. Similarly, SDCs for training youth in symbiotic facilities in healthcare, airlines and other services need to be set up to deepen the potential of the services sector. Lastly, high quality vocational and technical education must be provided to women and persons with disabilities to mainstream them in the national economy.

The writer is a former federal secretary.

rukhsana.hassan@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2016