DAWN.COM
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has a poor system to collect socioeconomic development data with officials blaming it on the successive governments` inclination to `demand-driven` strategies in preference to those based on the province`s needs.
An official of the provincial planning and development department told Dawn on Saturday that collection of primary data generated by conducting sample surveys had never been a priority for provincial government.
He said successive governments prepared development strategies in accordance with the demands by their constituents and dictates by their elected representatives and never tried to ascertain needs of the relevant communities before beginning development schemes for them.
“Surveys are conducted to determine development needs of a region in developed countries before decisions about roads, health facilities or electric supply are made,” he said.
The official said surveys served as a basis for planners to determine a baseline for development, determining requirements of the area concerned.
He said primary data was the most effective tool to develop indicators about sectors, including health, education, agriculture, population welfare, livestock, telecommunication etc, for interventions needed in an area.
According to an official of the provincial Bureau of Statistics (BoS), the last time the province conducted a broad-based survey to collect primary data by spending its own money was in 1988.
“The 1981 village level survey focusing on the rural areas of the province was carried out to collect social and economic data. There followed the holding of a multiple indicator cluster survey (MICS) in 2001 and 2008 with the financial assistance of the Unicef,” he said.
He further said the MICS had been used extensively to plan development schemes by international donor agencies.
“The government`s own data, generated through secondary sources, lacks credibility in the eyes of international donors,” said a section head of the P&D department, adding that the government should involve the private sector to perform the job of collecting and compiling data for development planning purposes.
A relevant official said the BoS established in 1970 had a presence in only three of the 25 districts in the province.
“Apart from its central office in Peshawar, the bureau has two `camp offices`, including one each at Dera Ismail Khan and Abbottabad,” he said, adding that the Musharraf-led military regime attached less significance to the BoS as it reduced its role and strength.
According to another official, the bureau currently compiles the `secondary` data provided by the provincial government`s departments, their attached wings, and the federal government agencies. Besides, it also issues monthly price review bulletins and periodic industrial output analysis.
The official said printed copies of the annual report, titled as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Development Statistics, were distributed among the state universities, government departments and federal government institutions for different purpose. He said the report used information taken from the Economic Survey of Pakistan and data provided by various directorates of the provincial government, including food, agriculture, fisheries, etc.
“The provincial government has never used this important organ to complement development planning in the province,” said the P&D official, adding that it should be used to produce primary data more than compiling secondary data.
He said the bureau had around 50 employees, including 28 statistical officers, statistical investigators and senior statistical keypunch operators.
“Conducting surveys to collect primary data is the most important job the bureau should undertake, but it requires a lot of money,” said the official, adding that more than 60 per cent of the organisation`s annual budget was spent on paying salary to employees.
The P&D department official said an improved data collection system was essential for the provincial government to enable its policymakers, departments and researchers to harmonise the official decision making process with the genuine development requirements of various areas, ensuring apt resource utilisation.
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