Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor said on Saturday that the incompetence of the Sindh government has brought down the standard of education in the province. Establishing a true welfare state in Pakistan will remain an unattainable goal until the country’s constitution is implemented in practice.
He observed that while political leaders frequently use the term “welfare state” as a well-worn slogan during election seasons, promising justice, equality, and prosperity, the dream remains painfully out of reach for ordinary citizens.
Mr Shakoor pointed out the irony that Pakistan’s Constitution already contains the blueprint for a welfare society, but successive governments have treated the document as decorative text rather than a binding obligation.
He identified specific constitutional provisions, noting Article 37 directs the state to promote social justice, Article 38 calls for eliminating inequality and providing basic necessities, and Article 25 guarantees equality before the law.
However, the PDP leader explained that these directives are non-justiciable, meaning citizens cannot demand their enforcement in court. This “loophole,” he argued, has allowed governments to ignore these commitments with impunity, reducing social support to rhetoric instead of enforceable rights.
He criticised the current approach where welfare is reduced to “episodic populism,” whether through the framing of zakat and charity by religious parties or the promise of subsidies and health cards by secular ones. Mr Shakoor lamented the lack of effort to build sustainable institutional scaffolding, such as progressive taxation, universal healthcare, and robust local councils.
“The result is a cycle of promises without permanence. Welfare becomes a political tool, not a social contract,” he remarked.
Drawing international comparisons, he cited Germany, Sweden, France, and Finland as nations where welfare is a reality because constitutional commitments are treated as enforceable rights, leading to robust social insurance systems and universal access to healthcare and education.
“These examples prove that welfare is not a dream – it is a matter of political will and institutional design,” he added.
Mr Shakoor described Pakistan”s situation as a tragedy where the vision exists on paper but the state has failed to act, resulting in deepening inequality and fragile social safety nets. He highlighted that the absence of continuity is particularly damaging, as social support programmes often collapse when governments change.
To move beyond rhetoric, he called for a cross-party alliance, uniting both Islamic and secular factions, to create a “Charter of Welfare.”
He proposed this charter would commit all parties to making Articles 37 and 38 enforceable, building permanent institutions for healthcare, education, and housing, and ensuring the continuity of these programmes across different governments.
Such an alliance, Mr Shakoor concluded, would transform welfare from a populist slogan into a binding social contract and a constitutional right, finally allowing Pakistan to turn its long-held aspiration into reality.