Poverty in pakistan Document Transcript

1. POVERTYPoverty is the pronounced deprivation of well being. It is the inability to satisfy onesbasic needs because one lacks income to buy services or from lack of access toservices.Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the state of severe deprivation of basichuman needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, healthcare, education and information. Relative poverty refers to as being below some relativeincome threshold, where this threshold differs for each society or country. One may berelatively poor, without being in the state of absolute poverty; relative poverty is oftenconsidered as an indirect measure of income inequality. For most of history poverty hadbeen mostly accepted as inevitable as traditional modes of production were insufficientto give an entire population a comfortable standard of living. After the industrialrevolution, mass production in factories made wealth increasingly more inexpensive andaccessible. Of more importance is the modernization of agriculture, such as fertilizers, inorder to provide enough yield to feed the population. People who practise asceticismintentionally live in economic poverty so as to attain spiritual wealth.The World Bankestimated 1.29 billion people were living in absolute poverty in 2008. Of these, about 400million people in absolute poverty lived in India and 173 million people in China. Interms of percentage of regional populations, sub-Saharan Africa at 47% had the highestincidence rate of absolute poverty in 2008. Between 1990 and 2010, about 663 millionpeople moved above the absolute poverty level. Still, extreme poverty is a globalchallenge; it is observed in all parts of the world, including the developed economies.The supply of basic needs can be restricted by constraints on government services suchas corruption, debt and loan conditionalities and by the brain drain of health care andeducational professionals. Strategies of increasing income to make basic needs moreaffordable typically include welfare, economic freedom, and providing financial services.Today, poverty reduction is a major goal and issue for many international organizationssuch as the United Nations and the World Bank. 2. POVERT IN PAKISTANPoverty in Pakistan is difficult to quantify. In 2006, the methodology used by thePakistani government to estimate those living in poverty was challenged by the WorldBank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). At that time, thegovernment estimate was that 23.9 per cent of the population lived below the poverty linebut the independent organisations assessed the figure in the range of 25.7 - 28.3 per cent.Those independent bodies supported estimates of a considerable fall in the statistic bythe 2007-08 fiscal year, when it was estimated that 17.2% of the total population livedbelow the poverty line. The declining trend in poverty as seen in the country during the1970s and 1980s was reversed in the 1990s by poor federal policies and rampantcorruption.This phenomenon has been referred to as the "poverty bomb". In 2001, thegovernment was assisted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in preparing theInterim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper that suggests guidelines to reduce poverty inthe country. Pakistan fares better than India and Bangladesh on most poverty markerssuch as the UN MPI index and its poverty rate is below those nations. As of 2009,Pakistans Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.572, higher

than that of nearbyBangladeshs 0.543, which was formerly a part of the country itself. Pakistans HDI stillstands lower than that of neighbouring Indias at 0.612. According to the HDI, 60.3% ofPakistans population lives on under $2 a day, compared to 75.6% in nearby India and81.3% in nearby Bangladesh, and some 22.6% live under $1 a day, compared to 41.6%in India and 49.6% in BangladeshWealth distribution in Pakistan is highly uneven, withthe top 10% of the population earning 27.6% and the bottom 10% earning only 4.1 of theincome According to the United Nations Human Development Report, Pakistans humandevelopment indicators, especially those for women, fall significantly below those ofcountries with comparable levels of per-capita income. Pakistan also has a higher infantmortality rate (88 per 1000) than the South Asian average (83 per 1000). 3. Spatial distribution of poverty Spatial distribution of poverty At the time of partition and independence in 1947, Pakistan inherited themost backward parts of South Asia with only one university, one Textile Mill and one Jute Factory. Thecountry has made tremendous progress and its per Capita GNP remains the highest in South Asia. Duringthe last decade poverty elimination programs helped many of the poor to participate and rise up. Howeverthe Global financial crisis and other factors like the occupation of Afghanistan have impacted Pakistanigrowth. Poverty in Pakistan has historically been higher in rural areas and lower in the cities. Out of thetotal 40 million living below the poverty line, 30 million live in rural areas. Poverty rose sharply in therural areas in the 1990s and the gap in income between urban and rural areas of the country becamemore significant. This trend has been attributed to a disproportionate impact of economic events in therural and urban areas. Punjab also has significan gradients in poverty among the different regions of theprovince The North West Frontier Province of Pakistan was one of the most backwardregions of the South Asian Subcontinent. Despite this, tremendous progress has been made in many areas.The NWFP now boasts several universities including the Ghulam Ishaq Khan University of Science andTechnology.Peshawar a sleep cantonment during British towns is a modern cosmopolitan city. Much morecan be done to invest in the social and economic structures. NWFP remains steeped in tribal culture, thoughthe biggest Pathan city is Karachi where the Pakhtuns are one of the richest class of people.The Pakhtuns of the region are heavily involved in the transportation, lumber, furniture and small arts andcrafts business. Some deal in cross border arms and drugs smuggling. This smuggling actively encouragedby the West and by Pakistan during the Soviet invasion of neighboring Afghanistan is intact and accordingto Western reports supported the Taliban regime.[citation needed] These and other activities have led to abreakdown of law and order in many parts of the region. 4. Un-Employment Rates 1998 Census Administrative Unit 1981 Census Both Sexes Male FemalePakistan 19.68 20.19 5.05 3.1 Rural 19.98 20.40 5.50 2.3 Urban 19.13 19.77 4.49 5.2Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 26.83 27.51 2.58 2.2 Rural 28.16 28.64 4.00 2.0 Urban 21.00 22.34 0.74 3.7Punjab 19.10 19.60 5.50 3.2 Rural 18.60 19.00 6.00 2.5 Urban 20.10 20.7 4.70 5.0Sindh 14.43 14.86 4.69 3.3 Rural 11.95 12.26 3.70 1.6 Urban 16.75 17.31 5.40 5.8Balochistan 33.48 34.14 8.67 3.1 Rural 35.26

35.92 9.81 3.0 Urban 27.67 28.33 5.35 4.0Islamabad 15.70 16.80 1.70 10.7 Rural 28.70 29.40 8.20 13.5 Urban 10.10 11.00 0.80 9.0 5. Poverty and genderThe gender discriminatory practices in Pakistani society also shape the distribution ofpoverty in the country. Traditional gender roles in Pakistan define the womans place asin the home and not in the workplace, and define the man as the breadwinner.Consequently, the society invests far less in women than men. Women in Pakistan sufferfrom poverty of opportunities throughout their lives. Female literacy in Pakistan is43.6% compared to Male literacy at 68.2%, as of 2008. In legislative bodies, womenconstituted less than 3% of the legislature elected on general seats before 2002. The1973 Constitution allowed reserved seats for women in both houses of parliament for aperiod of 20 years, thus ensuring that women would be represented in parliamentregardless of whether or not they are elected on general seats. This provision lapsed in1993, so parliaments elected subsequently did not have reserved seats for women.Reserved seats for women have been restored after the election of 2002 . Female labourrates in Pakistan are exceptionally low. Environmental issuesEnvironmental problems in Pakistan, such as erosion, use of agro-chemicals,deforestation etc. contribute to rising poverty in Pakistan. Increasing pollutioncontributes to increasing risk of toxicity, and poor industrial standards in the countrycontribute to rising pollution. FeudalismPakistan is home to a large feudal landholding system where landholding families holdthousands of acres and do little work on the agriculture themselves. They enlist theservices of their serfs to perform the labor of the land. 51% of poor tenants owe moneyto the landlords The landlords position of power allows them to exploit the only resourcethe poor can possibly provide: their own labor. 6. ConclusionLeadership has got central importance here; with proper planning and good governmentpolicies the problem can be solved. All they need to do is to appoint competent and wall qualified economists to help them tackle this issue and obviously their sincerity for its solution cannot be ignored as well. A country economy is the backbone of its countrywith its solution when it is saved many problems will automatically. Alone leadership is not enough for its solution. People of Pakistan have too got responsibility with equal share. People need to cooperate fully with government and should be sincere with their own country and put all their energies for eradication of poverty