poverty
Introduction
Poverty a crime todays world
Barnad Shaw few people can affors to be poor
M. Alj Jinnah war on nation changes maps.war on poverty maps changes
Leaders of French revolution excited the poor against the rich.this made the rich poor, but it never made the poor rich
Formation of Soviet union carried promise of equal distribution of wealth but cant either help the poors.
Slogans raised from various part of world for food and shelter but proved merely slogans
Complicated phenomenon
Every walk of life effected
Come to stay may be forever
Surrounded in viscious cycle of poverty
Basic cause of under-development
Low capita income
Little incentive or ability to save making savings less and hence lower investment
Low investment leads to low productivity making income low
UN-EVEN GROWTH
Increased population
Natural resources utilized by higher income dwellers
OPPURUNITIES LOST
Opportunities to alleviate poverty are lost all these years
Shameful investment in the education sector
Health and Job creation have never been the real focus of governments
Malnutrioned masses of a country with 5th highest wheat yield
FOREIGN INFLUENCE
aid provided instead of much need trade
instead of forcing for better Tax collection and increasing Tax to GDP ratio, government is forced to reduce subsidies
apathy of condition reaches new highes with world economy forces
Importing raw material from third world,,,, refining it in own country with own man power and then exporting FINISHED products on higher prices to same countries
investments only in primary industries
profits taken to own countries
SOCIOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS
JOINT FAMILY SYSTEM
restraining mobility
stucking to less profit occupation
more eaters then earners
Caste system
Education spread is the need of the hour
Higher value to spiritual growth than to material enjoyment
Notions of fake prestige and honour
FAILED ADMINISTRATION
Centralization of powers
Delay and redtapism
Lack of developmental will
Political point scoring
Negative criticism
Public servants puppets in the hand of government
Corruption and lethargic attitudes
Lack of political stability
Lack of law and order
Lack of Long term and fiasable economic polices
LAT FIVE YEARS
POVERTY
Ministry of Food Security told the Senate this week that 58 per cent of the population was food-insecure last year compared to the Sustainable Policy Development Institute`s figure of 49 per cent for 2009. It also pointed out that the SDPI`s estimate of 22 per cent of Pakistanis living in extreme poverty in 2009 was higher than a UNDP and World Bank number of 17 per cent living below the poverty line in 2007-08. By the government`s own admission, then, Pakistanis are poorer and hungrier today than they were when the current administration came to power.
The Planning Commission published its latest report on the food basket the minimum recommended intake of various food items which reveals that the monthly cost of the basket has grown by 81 per cent since 2007-2008, and that actual consumption is about 1,700 calories rather than the food basket`s prescribed 2,150 calories per person per day. A square meal is now clearly beyond the reach of the majorityof Pakistanis, leading to the demonstrated problems of undernourished and underdeveloped children, poor rates of mother and child survival, and a weak and ailing labour force. Add to this the following statistic: for the poorest Pakistanis, the cost of food now makes up 59 per cent of totalspending. Combine this with the lack of high-quality and accessible subsidised healthcare and education, and it is obvious that the average Pakistani is increasingly worse off when it comes to the basic necessities of life.
BISP is considered successful on a particular front providing extra cash to the poorest families through women and has added some features, such as health insurance and small business loans, that should enable the poor to earn higher incomes. But the need for more and different interventions has only increased. Given the extent of the problem, these interventions don`t need to be brilliantly innovative. Plenty of models exist elsewhere. Making a dent in the poverty numbers in Pakistan is rather a question of political will, and of placing a value on the most basic human rights.
MIDDLE CLASS
A growing middle nurtured by public institutions acts as a catalyst for development of the economy and the society>however in Pakistan,this class has not been provided with an enabling environment to realise its fulll potential.Constituting 60M of the total 180M making it highest percentage in the region of 33% as compred to 25% of India 22% Bangladesh and 18.5% of Srilanka bbut ssadly others have better represntation in the legislative assemblies unlike Pakistan.UNique chracterstices make it a helpful to economic growth.
elite follow much more mean and vesteed interest policies,formulating macroeconmic policies for the few and are less democractic then the middle class.While civil society is on a bumpy trajectory ,middle class is left without public institutions particularly schools,hospitals,universities,libraries,parks and public infrastructures is shrinking and are being repalced by mushroom growth of private/commercial educationla institutions and health care business
.This trend is restricting access to low cost,quality education and health care to majority of middle class which in turn is decreasing their purchasing power nad eroding savings
NO TAX BY GOVERNMENT
Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim were among the prominent cabinet members who did not file returns. Mr Fahim does not even possess a national tax number . Railway Minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, who had recently announced $1 million head money for an Egyptian-American producer of a blasphemous film, did not pay income tax.`It is strange that tax data are still classified information and once they are made public the country`s taxto-GDP ratio will improve automatically.`Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his 25 cabinet members had acknowledged in their nomination papers for the 2008 general elections that they did not pay anything as income tax.Mr Gilani registered to pay tax in July 2010.The problem starts at the top. Those who make revenue policies, run the government and collect taxes, have not been able to set a good example for others.Only 260,000 out of 180 million citizens have paid tax consecutively for the last three years.78 members of parliament still did not have a national taxation number.Pakistan`s refusal to implement sweeping tax reform was instrumental in the collapse of an $11.3 billion IMF bailout programme in Nov 2010.
circular debt threaten economic growth
With system losses as high as 39 per cent and generation capacity utilisation as low as 14 per cent in some of the power companies, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority has found outages and circular debt threatening to `derail the feeble economic growth`.In its annual report 2011-12 submitted to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) It is estimated the country was losing 2-3 per cent of its GDP due to power shortage, which may increase. The deepening power crisis has forced many businesses to close down.
The regulator attributed the severe energy crisis to lack of integrated energy planning and demand forecasting, imbalanced energy mix with heavy reliance on oil and costly imports, non-utilisation of vast indigenous resources, lack of effect project structuring planning and implementation of identified and viable projects.As a result, the shortfall of power in Pakistan averaged 5,000MW as many power plants were generating electricity at half their capacity because of fuel-related issues. The country spends billions of dollars per year on import of crude oil and petroleum products which has increased the cost of generation and raised circular debt, leading to higher power rates.
`Further, the power system is afflicted with corruption and inefficiency. While oil and gas companies were not getting payments from power companies, it has become difficult to arrange fuel for electricity generation, the independent power producers have either minimised power production despite surplus capacity and have simply shut down because of non-payments. `All these factors have led to a situation where it is virtually difficult to attract new investment
MISCLLANEOUS FACTORS
Inflation
Huge defence budget
Backward agricultural techaniques
Load shedding
Illiteracy
Foreign aid dependence
ISLAMIC TEACHING FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH
STEPS TO EREDICATE
Cut in defense budget after sustaining strong bilietral ties with global community especially with neighbours and then shifting that budget to Education
Linking export of raw material with export of manpower
Education
Private sector investment