Read both the responses carefully, judge as to which of the responses is of better quality
Student A
Ans. Ayub Khan immediately after taking control over the government promised to bring about important reforms that were essential to modernize Pakistan between 1958 and 1969 which came to be known as decade of development.
With many shortages of goods there was ample oppurtunity for some people to make a great deal of money by selling goods on the black market. Some goods were hoarded so that the price would rise and they could be sold at a bigger profit. All this put up the prices of goods that ordinary people had to pay in the shops and markets. He took tough action to stop hoarding, end the black market and action against smuggling. Goods were seized from profiteers and many arrests were made. These actions brought down prices.
in 1961 the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance helped improve the position of women. Divorce by simple repudiation was no longer allowed. Marriages and divorces had to be registered and approved by a court. Further marriages also had to be approved by a court. The minimum age for marriage was set at 16 for women and 18 for men. They were an important step towards improving the rughts of women.
Moreover, Ayub Khan also introduced reforms in education. The government began as extensive literacy programme building new schools and colleges. As a result education up to calss 5 was made free and compulsory. Secondary education boards were set up to oversea secondary schooling upto class 12. Progress was made to improve scientific education and research. As a result noticeable literacy rate was improved.
Furthermore, Ayub Khan set up the land reform comission. This led to a series of important land reforms aimed at providing security of tenure and fairer distribution and ownership of land. A limit was set that no farm could be smaller than 12.5 acres or larger than 500 acres of irrigated or 1000 acres of rain fed(un irrigated) land. Big land owners were forced to find tenants for parts of their land and this too, raised in turn, raised productivity as the tenants and smaller farms were often more efficient than the larger, poorly run farms. Three major dams were built to help irrigation. Farmers were also loaned money to build wells to reduce the need for canal irrigation. These reforms revitalized agriculture and crop yields were at an all time record.
Ayub Khan industrial reforms were remarkable. In 1962 an oil refinery was established in Karachi and a mineral devlopment corporation set up for the exploration of mineral deposits. In 1964 an economic union the regional cooperation for devlopment was formed with Iran and Turkey, in which the three countries agreed to develop ties in trade, commerce and industry. An export bonus scheme was set up offering insentives to industrialists who increased exports. As a result of these policies economic growth rose sharply. The average annual rate by which the economy grew in the 1960s was 7% which was three times that of India. Production did rise rapidly and the Pakistan economy improved significantly.
Therefore, Economic development was a priority for Ayub Khan. For a long time he had been Chairman of the Planning Commission, and he recruited able economists and advisers, many of whom had been trained in the USA. So successful were his policies that businessman and leaders around the world began to praise the ‘Pakistan miracle’. Pakistan achieved faster economic growth than neighbouring country India.
In addition, Private enterprise was central to Ayub Khan’s plans for economic growth. He looked to private investment to build new manufacturing plants and improve agricultural output. Businesses liked stable government. They also liked cuts in taxation such as the abolition of the Business Profits Tax. All this encouraged companies to expend.
Based on the above discussion, it is justified to term the years between 1958 and 1969 as decade of development.
Student B
The reign of Ayub Khan was a famous one yet notorious for some reasons. The highlight of his reign were his foreign policies, and the domestic policies of agricultural and industrial reforms along with social.
The foreign policies of Ayub khan took up the the major time of his reign. The fact that he was able the get on good terms with India by signing the Indus Water Treaty in 1959, when the previous leaders could not, goes to show his capability, and through the treaty he was able to ensure Pakistan valuable water supply for its agriculture. Moreover, USSR, which was at first against Pakistan, was now suggest oil exploration during the reign of Ayub Khan. Ayub Khan than followed up in 1962, which further improved relations, and the project started, benefitting Pakistan economically. The military also got stronger in the when Pakistan closed down the air base of America in Peshawar, and the USSR as a token of good will, started supplying arms. The relations with USA were also at peak when Ayub stated that they were USA ‘most allied ally’, and they allowed the plane to spy on USSR from the base of Peshawar in the U2 Affair. This guaranteed them economic aid from USA in the future, resulting in development. China also loaned Pakistan 11 million pounds with low interest, which resulted in developmental projects in his reign.
Moreover, he was also well known for his agricultural reforms, which included setting limits of land holding to 1000 acres unirrigated and 500 acres irrigated. What this did was increase the size of small subsistence farm which were not very productive due to low output, and reduce the size of large holdings which were not being administered properly, resulting in an easier administration and higher output. Making tube wells and giving out low interest loans to encourage mechanization also significantly boosted output.
Furthermore, his industrial reforms were also well known, which he carried out through the help of foreign aid from other developed countries. In 1962, he established an oil refinery in Karachi, which helped in fulfilling the oil requirement of the country and also generate foreign exchange. He also set up the Mineral Oil Exploration which helped in exploration of minerals to generate wealth for the country. He made the country join RCD in which turkey and Iran helped the country industrially. Furthermore, incentives were given to export oriented industries in his rule to boost exports.
The social reforms included providing rehabilitation for the unsheltered refugees who migrated from India to Pakistan in Karachi, introducing family programs to reduce population growth, and improving school curriculum. The health facilities were also increased through increasing the amount of doctors and nurses.
However, he also faced failures in some of his policies. Such as in the 1962 U2 affair in which the spy plane of USA took flight from Pakistan, further tensed the countries relations with USSR, which could be seen when USSR regarded Pakistan as USA’s pet. This meant that no vital financial support from Russia for the development of the country and no diplomatic support in the Kashmir issue. In terms of relation with USA, they deteriorated rapidly in 1962 when USA helped India against China in 1962 without consulting Pakistan, which developed grudges between both the countries and may have lead to the arms embargo in the 1965, which coupled with their no direct help to Pakistan in that war, further deteriorated financial ties.
The agricultural reforms also had some significant failures, such as the poor could not afford the mechanization and thus the projected output of produce was never reached. The poor who took the loan had difficulties or could not pay the loan back, reducing living standards of the poor and hurting Pakistan financially. The farm produces also got expensive, which lead to protests later on.
The industrial reforms also lacked the impact as even though economic growth rose to was 7 percent, all the wealth went to only 22 families, the same families which controlled 66 percent of Pakistan’s assets and 85 percent of its insurance companies, thus it did not benefit the whole Pakistan community, increasing opposition.
The family planning programs introduced through ads on cinemas and pamphlets were also not very effective and the problems of famine and unemployment related to it remained. This was also burdening the health department.
Based on the above discussion, it can be concluded that it is justified to a lot of extent to call the reign of Ayub Khan Decade of Development, as even though his reforms did have some problems, the economic benefits he brought to the country were never seen before during the reign of any other ruler before him, and it was his contributions in the economy which started the exponential development of Pakistan in the future, as even zulfikar ali Bhutto used his policies as the basis for his reforms.