Alleviating Poverty

Alleviating Poverty

POVERTY is simply a state of human ill-being and unacceptable human deprivation. Its concept extends from low levels of incomes and consumption to lack of education and poor health. Different people view poverty in different perspectives. The worst kind of poverty is when people do not have access to basic food and water to fulfil their basic physical needs, therefore they are undernourished, weak and very susceptible to diseases. Another kind of poverty is where people have adequate food but do not have access to other basic needs, i-e: water for sanitation, public health services, clothes and housing. Poverty is not so simple that limits itself to food, cloth and housing. It includes other social dimensions like powerlessness, insecurity, vulnerability, isolation and social exclusion. The poors suffer from stunted growth due to malnutrition, diseases like diarrhoea which result from unsafe drinking water; and low level of schooling. They are not supplied with basic amenities like clean water and a place to live. They have no protection under the law. They are the most vulnerable to crimes. They are deprived of every security that a government provides to its citizens. They have been totally excluded from our societies just as they are not one of us.


Poverty exists everywhere. Recent global level estimates suggest that almost half of the 6 billion population of the world live on $2 a day, and about one-fifth live on less than $1 a day. Around 44% of the world’s poor population live in South Asia only. Although the poor population living under $1 a day declined from 1987-99, however the actual number of poor has increased. According to estimates, if the present situation persists, the total number of poor living under $1 a day is going to increase from 1.2 billion to 1.8 billion by 2015. However there is a regional variation in the incidence of poverty. East Asia, North Africa and Middle East have so far been able to cope with poverty and have relatively less number of poor population. But, in other regions, conspicuously, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa the number of absolute poor have increased since the last one and a half-decade. These two regions consist of the world’s 70% poor population that lives below $1 a day. Within South Africa there is a variation among countries in respect of poverty. Recent researches reveal that poverty in Nepal and Bangladesh is the highest followed by Pakistan and India. Some surveys suggest that Pakistan has a population of about 141.5 million. The population has grown at a rate of 2.5% since ‘90s. The population density of Pakistan is about 183-persons/square km. The gross national income is $59.6 billion, which means per capita gross national income is $421. The life expectancy in Pakistan is 63 years and under child mortality rate is 110/year. Adult literacy rate in Pakistan is 57%. Official stats also suggest that 33% population lives below poverty line. In the poor population of Pakistan, 38% population lives in Urban areas while 62% is found in rural areas.

The causes of poverty are complex, deep-rooted and often less understood. The main causes of poverty are lack of education; inequality in distribution of incomes and assets; and pervasive corruption along with several other causes including natural calamities, inflation, unemployment, flawed policies of Govt. and disturbed law & order situation. The more superior cause among these is the inequality of distribution of assets. In Pakistan, the initial pattern of land distribution is very skewed, largely due to the allocation of large tracts of newly irrigated lands to loyal nawabs, sardars, khans and jagirdars by the British in pre-partition India. The inequality in land distribution has since then widened itself. The pattern of income is even worse in the industrial sectors. The benefits of high growths in the ‘60s were not distributed evenly. It is an astounding fact that two-thirds of the country’s industrial assets are controlled by 22 families. A recent SPDC study reveals that out of every increment in the GDP of one rupee, 48 paisas accrues the richest 20 per cent and only 7 paisa to the poorest 20 per cent. This shows how inequally the wealth is distributed in Pakistan. The other biggest cause of poverty is lack of education. Education is the only key to human and social development. Education is the only quality which incites in the people the quality of decision-making and planning effective strategies. Simply it is the key through which people can know how to tackle their problems i-e: poor health, powerlessness, insecurity and isolation etc. Education is the only way that poors can empower themselves to attain their rights. The third main problem is the corruption in the government system. The government allocates a large amount of funds to alleviate this menace (poverty) but the system is so corrupt that hardly a small portion of the funds reach the poor to assuage their grievances. The poor are deprived of all the rights and privileges due to the corrupt system. The rich are prioritized over the poor in the fields of justice, protection and freedom of choice and action. Thus a sensation of powerlessness is felt among the poors. Besides other reason, natural calamities also count. Most of the time the worst hit due to the natural calamities are the poor as they are the least protected. The destruction further reduces them to more poverty. Inflation too is a real hazards for the poor. With their meagre resources they are hardly able to make both ends meet. Meanwhile, when the ugly monster of inflation rears up its head, and engulfs the poor in its grip. Inflation raises the prices of basically needed commodities while luxurious commodities like Cars, Refridgerator, A.C, Television feel a major fall in their prices. So this alludes that inflation only affects the poor, not the rich. Employment too is elusive for the poor. They can't afford the market rates of jobs and merit doesn't count much in present state of affairs. Govt. Policies too are playing a vital role to nurture this menace. For instance, consider tax policies. The direct taxes which hit the rich are decelerating however the indirect taxes which effectively strike the poor are on the rise. These were the main reasons behind the upsurge in poverty. The list is still unending.

Poverty creates more poverty and destroys the productive capacity of individuals, communities and nations. There are a far more severe consequences of this chronic poverty. Poor want to survive and to do that, their poverty leaves them with no choice except stepping into the world of crimes. Poverty is the major source of the crimes. The poor involve themselves in heinous crimes like prostitution, extortion, drug-addiction, kidnapping for ransom and contract-killings etc. These kinds of crime lead into dire deadlocks, which are adverse for the every individual in the country. These crimes create the sensation of insecurity among people, repel foreign investment and create hatred in the hearts of rich for the poor etc. Thus everybody suffers the repercussions of poverty.

The government of Pakistan has taken some serious steps in alleviating poverty. For example, it has launched micro-credit-financing schemes. Micro-credit schemes are very effective instruments of providing self-employment opportunities to the poor. Pakistan has two complementary micro-credit programmes through the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and the Khushali Bank (KB). PPAF has disbursed Rs. 4 billion in the past five years and KB Rs. 3 billion in three years. 
For intellectual development it has set the cost of education in Government institute free or nominal. To raise the influx, the government is providing several incentives to students on various occasions throughout the year. Scholarships are also awarded to deserving people. This policy in the long-term is going to be an effective strategy to alleviate poverty at the grass-roots level. The government has also commenced several mega projects including dams, industries, ports and small and medium enterprises. These projects are targeting help directly at the poor. These mega projects will create a lots of employment alongwith facilities and services, all for the poor. In reality, these projects will help boost the country's economy and achieving larger growth rates. The Government also has signed various pacts with Malaysia which has promised to recruit 100,000 people from Pakistan for employment there. The employed ones will send remittances to Pakistan ultimately influencing straight on the poor sector. At the end, Pakistani Government is encouraging competition in the Telecommunication Sector which is attracting a lots of Foreign Investors. Thus creating too many employment opportunities as well as cheaper and better services.

The Government of Pakistan still needs systematize its present plans and take more steps to check poverty. The micro-credit programmes (PPAF and KB) disburse Rs. 4 and 3 million respectively. Thus the annual rate of disbursement is Rs. 1.8 billion, which ultimately makes Rs. 25000-30000 to a small proportion of the poor population. However, it doesn't remove the poverty permanently. The Government has provided incentives and funds in education sector. But it has failed to maintain a standard quality of education. It needs to work out sincerely to breakaway the barriers of mediocrity. The mega-projects which have been introduced are a good step. But the projects are still less to satisfy the needs of such a large population. The Government needs to keep the good work up and introduce as more mega projects as it can. The employment contract signed between Malaysia and Pakistan is somewhat encouraging. But 100,000 won't make such a big difference. Pakistan needs to attract other countries towards its cheap labour and sign contracts with other countries. Such a large drop-out from the country will pacify the load on the country's economy in terms of petty resources alongwith drag in a huge amount of remittances. Just as the competition in Telecommunication sector has begun, the Government needs to attract more foreign investors in other fields in order to arrange more employment, provide quality services at cheaper rates. These were the recommendations to add 5 stars to the achievements of the Government of Pakistan. Now lets see what is more needed to be done. The Government's present Tax Policies are anti-poor and pro-rich. This thing needs to be reversed to properly distribute assets and wealth between rich and the poor. Presently, the taxes collected in the National Exchequer prove the be a major part of the income of the poor due to flawed direct and indirect tax policies. The direct taxes should be given a limit of around Rs. 25000. The direct taxes should be forgiven to people earning less than the limit amount. While it should be imposed vigorously, transparently and cruelly imposed on people earning more than the limit. This is how the poor and middle class will breakaway through the direct taxes. And for indirect taxes, the base should keep minimizing. The strategy should be like nobody suffers, neither the poor & middle class nor the Government. The luxurious and noble commodities and services specifically utilized by the rich should be taxed fervently. This is the way to fill the wide gap of inequality. If we can't make the poor rich, lets make the rich poor. This will ultimately eradicate the sense of elitism. Thus the universal goal of unity and brotherhood will be achieved. In the agriculture area, the distribution of lands need to be looked out. The jagirdars, sardars and nawabs should be deprived of their land and the recovered land should be alloted to tenants. Side by side modern techniques should be introduced for better production. The Farmers should be given technical education in sync with the modern scenario. Crop cultivation should be done strategically. The more water-consuming crops should be imported and the available amount of water should be used carefully and cautiously. This will solve the major problem of water crises in our country. The industrial area needs some concessions. The industries should be provided with basic necessities at their service with cheap costs. This will help calling down prices. Everyyear, the government collects a huge amount of Zakat (poor-due). This amount is most efficiently used up by white-collar criminals to fill up their bank accounts. Only a small proportion of this amount reaches the poor which doesn't help long. Instead the Government should allocate the zakat (poor-due) fund of every district and invest that fund in the owning districts to establish industries, factories or small enterprises. Doing this will create employment opportunities and the yearly profits from the invested-sector can be used to aid the poor just like the Government does. By the other hand, the Zakat collection by the Government everyyear can be used on development projects thus enhancing the standard of life. Nowadays mediocrity has been on a rise in Pakistan. It is all due to the falling standards of educational institutions throughout the country. The remedy to this situation needs some time, meanwhile what the Government needs to work on is Technical Education. For instance, if you want to build a bungalow, you will get the finest architect in Pakistan but if you've got a leaking tap, you will never find a skilled plumber. The government needs to encourage people to step in the world of technical education. This will help solve the unemployment problems.

All these steps can achieve striking results only if followed with total integrity and transparency. These two features in the Government can prove to be a cornerstone in building a STRONG AND PROSPEROUS PAKISTAN. - Amen.