Two-Day PIDE's RASTA First Ever Conference Starts

Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), under its Research for Social Transformation and Advancement' (RASTA) program, kicked off its first-ever RASTA conference at PC Bhurban

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Mar, 2022 ) :Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), under its Research for Social Transformation and Advancement' (RASTA) program, kicked off its first-ever RASTA conference at PC Bhurban.

The research moot comprised diverse research themes, including energy issues, urban development, technology, and public service delivery, social sector development, markets and regulation, the political economy of development and reform, and sludge - the administrative burden.

While inaugurating the conference, in his inaugural address, Vice-Chancellor PIDE and Chairman RAC Dr. Nadeem ul Haque referred to one of his papers "Developing Research and a Research Culture: Results from a Pilot Project in Pakistan" as the genesis for the RASTA program.

He said that the 'enlightenment movement' was nothing but the exchange of ideas among the great intellectuals of the time. Even Marx wrote that ideas bring change. However, ideas must be indigenous.

Without exchange, ideas don't refine, and without refinement reaching a conclusive solution becomes exceedingly difficult.

The vice chancellor apprised the participants that we still have not been able to free ourselves from the colonial clutches.

Our research is primarily driven by actors that are alien to our situation. Outsiders are driving our research, with perhaps the vested agendas.

Through RASTA, we have also proved that we can do better than those who steer local research from outside.

Pro Vice Chancellor PIDE, Dr. Durre Nayab presented her study titled 'The Assumed Shortage of Housing in Pakistan' with some interesting results.

"We are short of 10 million housing units" has been a buzzword in politics, media, and donor-driven research for the last 10 years, she stated.

Given an average household size of well over six persons, this means that nearly one-third of the population is without housing.Do we see such a huge number of people living on footpaths, on the sides of roads, under bridges, or in any open area? Thankfully, NO.

It is not clear from where did this number come from, she added.

So, PIDE after digging out the reality concludes that there is certainly not a "deficit of 10 million housing units" in Pakistan.

There may be "inadequate housing" in the country, but not "housing shortage'. The deficit is in the quality of life in the houses, not the absence of housing units.

Earlier, Project Director RASTA Dr. Faheem Jehangir Khan presented highlights of the RASTA journey comprising over one and a half years.

PIDE's RASTA is a multi-year competitive grants program for policy-oriented research in Pakistan, under the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) of the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, the Government of Pakistan.

The mission is to develop an extensive research network of academia and think tanks across Pakistan producing high-quality, evidence-based policy research to inform Pakistan's public policy process, he stated.

Moreover, the program seeks to develop local thought communities and generate contextualized knowledge.