Pakistan - the most urbanized country of South Asia

Study of Pakistan's population in the latest report of UN's population fund.

Pakistan is the "most urbanized" country of South Asia, because 32% rural population already has migrated to urban areas with dreams of better future. Due to this migration, on one side in urban settlements the serious problems of shelter, environment and employment are re-surfacing then, on the other side urban facilities and services are interrupting badly. These are the words said in a report of United Nations, prepared with the collaboration with the Population fund of the international organization. According to the report, the reason behind 24% increase in urban population of Pakistan is not only people coming from the rural areas but apart from that its also foreign migrants. The number of these foreigners are said to be 2 to 3 million, majority of these are Bangladeshis. Apart from these, 3 million Afghan refugees are also present. Natural rate of increase in the population of urban areas is consistently 2.6%, but with all this the swiftness at which population of cities are increasing it is sensed that Pakistan's population would reach 220 million till 2020.

Whereas 33% population dwell in urban areas, that's why a growth rate of 3.5% is noted, and clearly the speed at which the population of cities are increasing, the need for urban facilities and services are also being required accordingly, now the situation is that about 50% of the total population is living in houses composed of only one room, where there's no reasonable facilities for health care, cleanliness and no system of sanitation.

It is said in this United Nation's report that there has already been 7 times increase in the urban population of Pakistan. In 1951 the total population of Pakistani cities were 6 million, which increased to 340 million in 1998. Unfortunately with the speedy increase in the urban population, the basic urban facilities weren't provided with the same speed. Due to the unchecked increase in population, illegal settlements (Kachi aabadian, jhonpriyan) and its establishments is increasing, urban problems are becoming more cumbersome and complex.

Those urban areas where such (Jhuggi) tent villages are formed, poverty is present there in its worst cruel and ugly shape, where different types of social problems are nurturing, which includes usage of drugs, increasing number of child laborers, and also attack of AIDS and other sexual diseases.

Migration from rural areas to cities, is also destroying the environmental balance and eco system. Emission of smoke from cars and factories, is also increasing which has stimulated tremendous increase in air pollution. Small illegal industrial zones are created in-between urban settlements, the smoke emitting from these, as well as the industrial wastes are becoming very dangerous for the health of such urban settlements.

In this report, the three basic sources of (naql makani) migration are discussed in detail. Among these three sources, from one province to the other province, from villages to cities and migration on international level. The migration happening from inside the country are called for, that before the census of 1998, approximately 4 million people had migrated and among those; more than two-thirds were going into the cities, and now they are 63% of urban population. Their total population is 5 to 6 % in the urban areas of the four provinces. As compared to the other three provinces two or three times more people migrate from Punjab, and in Punjab from one rural area to the other rural area, migration is seen on the rise.

Since 1950, maximum people migrating into Sindh are from Punjab and NWFP, and it continues. 70% people migrating into Sindh doesn't belong to this province whereas 60% people have migrated between the provinces of NWFP and Punjab.

In this report the imbalanced division between the population of the provinces is also elaborately discussed. Baluchistan, which has 44% area of the whole country, only 5% population of the whole country is residing / living on it and there only 19 people per square kilometer live. On the other side is Punjab, whose population is 55% of the whole country, only 1/4th of the total land came in its share.

Where's Pakistan Standing?

From the traditional claims of development to the realities of human development index................. A tale untold

We would become Asian tigers.......... country's foreign currency reserves exceeds 7.5 Billion......... very soon Pakistan will cut loose IMF and World Bank's stranglehold....... our image has improved the world over............ elimination of poverty and illiteracy is one of the priorities of the government........ Pakistan is going to become a role model like Singapore and Malaysia...........!!!!!!!!!

These are the official claims, which are propounded day and night through the loud speakers of the government machinery. Our eyes are accustomed with reading the official statements coming out in the media. On the other side, an ordinary citizen measures these claims of development through his personal scale without indulging himself in the web of figures. But every time he sees himself more deprived and his future darker. And he is forced to think, why are the doors of progress and prosperity always closed for him? The country is progressing while the citizens are falling pray to hunger and misery. Why is the word prosperity a mystery, which always hides itself from the eyes of the poor.........?

Improving Pakistan’s image and economic prosperity, if seen in the international context other than the official thinking, it becomes evident weather we are going towards growth or downfall? To ascertain what an ordinary Pakistani has gone through the last two or three years, in getting basic facilities like health, education, shelter and food, is only possible when a n impartial agency measures our scale of development and analyze it.

Recently the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has issued a report on the member countries regarding human development index (HDI), a measure of human development. 175 countries have been included in the list. Pakistan has been placed at 144th position with respect to human development. The depressing aspect of this report is that in Pakistan a common man's development rate is even less than the development rate of many under-developing and poor countries of South Asia. It can be understood by the fact that Maldives is placed 86th, Srilanka 99th, India 127th, Bhutan 136th, Bangladesh 139th, and Nepal 143rd in the list. Place given to Pakistan in this report clearly indicates the dismal situation of an ordinary Pakistani. The idea of individual's own development, carries wide meaning in itself, under which an individual/human is given moral, social, political and cultural rights protection and such a calm environment is created that carries forward his abilities in positive direction to make him a useful member of the society. The motive of United Nations Development Program is to analyze the speed of basic necessities, human development and prosperity provided by the countries to its citizens. So it wouldn't be useless to say that a country's economic development and political stability is meaningless until an ordinary man's development isn't possible. It can be said with utmost certainty that in this report two institutions of Pakistan i.e. education and health aren't included, if these two services were also to be analyzed then its possible that we would have been placed much deprived/ down wards in this report as regards individual human development.

If we take a look at the nations who rule the world today, we would see the they gave utmost importance to individual human development. If a nation's citizens are educated and healthy, then collective progress can never be undermined. Education, that opens up doors of prosperity, plays a vital role in enhancing human wisdom, how far have we given impetuous to this can be ascertained through the following facts. According to the official statistics, the present literacy rate is 54%. (These people are also included, who only know reading and writing) Which means half of our population is illiterate. According to the official claims this rate will increase to 60% in 2006, whereas many poor and developing countries of the world have already crossed this rate.

In 2000 literacy rate in Pakistan was 47.1%, which means during the last four years we were able to increase only 6.9% literacy rate and in these four years our increase has only been 1.62% per year, whereas on the other side our increasing population rate has been 2.3%. Why has been our rate so slow, the main reason behind it is the avoidance of education in the budget. Only 1.7% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) was spent from 1997-98 to 2001-02 on this issue however last year 2003-04, 9.5% (2.5% in province) was allocated for Federal and Provincial educational side. For the current year 2004-05 2.7% of GDP is allocated for it.

Health care, is the basic necessity of human beings. Bad situation of government hospitals in the country is in front of us. Keeping in view the increasing population our policy makers haven't given any attention, which was required. Scarce health care facilities for poor and the middle class has become a big human disaster. In bigger cities like Karachi, Lahore and various places, poor people of the vast rural areas stay in the hospitals for months leaving behind their livelihood, amongst which women and children in large numbers and included. Health has always been avoided; it can be monitored through the fact that total public expenditure on health care was 32.80 Billion for the year 2003-04 which was only 0.73% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 2.96% of Federal and Provincial governments. In the current financial year 9.90 Billion has been allocated by the Federal Government for health care, which is only 1.09% of the gross national expenditure. If the expenditure spent on health is compared with the defense expendeture/spendings, then; this year defense spending have been allocated 194 Billion Rupees, which is 21.6% of the GDP.

Money allocated for education and health clearly indicates how adequate the poor people are served in the fields of education and health in the future Pakistani society and what is the ordeal/situation of a common man...............!

Average age is also termed as an important aspect of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Average age in Pakistan is 64 years, which is relatively less in comparison to the other developing countries of Asia, for example in Srilanka average age is 74 years, 73 years in Malaysia, 71 years in China and 70 years in Philippines. In Pakistan infant mortality rate is 82 out of 1000 infants, which is termed as highest in Asia. One thing is to be noticed that in poor countries like Bhutan and Nepal the mortality rate is 60 and 63 respectively per 1000 infants whereas in Pakistan mortality rate amongst children of less than five years of age is also the highest in Asia.

In Pakistan, the dangerous increasing average of infant mortality rate and on the other side the decreasing rate of average age for Pakistan tells us about the meager facilities that are given by the Government in health sector and the place where an ordinary man of our country is standing........!

Our Government Officials never get tired of propounding that the country is progressing. On the other hand, a backward and poor citizen of the country is forced to think what kind of progress is this, which isn't reaching the masses and how much time would it take to reach them.

Education is such a blessing that it not only promotes/instigates wisdom in a man but also shows the way of economic prosperity. Largely the cast exposed to the curse of ever spreading unemployment in the country are, those who are educated but they didn't had the chance to excel in a specialized discipline/field, due to which they couldn't get the desired status, and as a result in the last ten years an educated unemployed class is created in the country, who are adversely frustrated because of no employment. Behind the increasing crime rate in Pakistan such youngsters seems involved, who unwontedly have made crime as their professions. It can be assessed through the data of criminals arrested in the country that amongst these the number of educated people is much more, who have started walking on this track just for livelihood. Increasing problems of the young people and the data of educated youngster criminals, what kind of development is it showing? It is certainly useless to hope for prosperous and developed Pakistan through the frustrated young lot.

Under, the Department of Statistics the Pakistan Integrated Household Service (PIHS) in 2002-03 has compiled an interesting report about the comparison of education in poor and rich classes, in light of which; 25% poor people are those who are educated whereas 71% children were enrolled during 1998-99 at Primary level in Pakistan, this number has increased to 72% during 2000-02 with only 1% improvement. According to the survey 100% children of rich class and 56% children belonging to poor families left school. In this regard, this year Punjab Government has enforced compulsory admission policy in primary schools, which is a commendable step. This report has stated that if 100% children are registered in secondary school education then 75% of them belong to rich while 23% belong to poor class, likewise this numeric increases to 83% rich and 17% middle and poor students at Metric level.

It should be clarified that 28% poor children admitted at primary level are those who leave school before reaching 6th standard. Main part played in children leaving schools is poverty of the parents. This problem in the country is specially grave in the rural population. Increase in children due to lack of education and wisdom, leaves the head of the large family financially unsound so he can't provide education to all the children that's why they are pushed into labor depriving them of education at primary level which is left incomplete. According to a detailed survey the number of working children in Pakistan is far more greater than the poor and developing countries, we have laws relating to child labor but labor taking owners of various factories, hotels and parks are joking with these laws, and degrading it.

In 2000, at the start of the new century our government in United Nations had vowed the self esteem of an ordinary citizen and human welfare, in which impetuous on education and reduction in poverty were declared as two basic elements, but with the passage of time instead of decrease in the aforesaid objects it seems to be increasing more aggressively. Problems of rural and urban population in the country, certainly gets more different according to the resources. In a report of economic survey, increasing rate of unemployment in the rural and urban populations are discussed, according to that total population of Pakistan in 1995 had an unemployment rate of 5.37% which has increased to 8.7% in 2004. Unemployment rate in rural areas was 4.80% in 1995 which has increased to 7.55% in 2004, whereas the unemployment rate in urban population was 6.90% in 1995, which has increased to the dangerous level of 9.80% in 2004. The darkest side of the bad effect that unemployment in brought to our country is that, young educated class of the country having not realized their true place in the society are leaving for USA, UK, Canada and other rich countries and the educated youngsters who couldn't go abroad, are working on the philosophy of work wherever you get the job, and are keeping their candles burning at home.

Poverty and human development are closely associated to each other, when poverty increases human development would stop, and decrease in poverty would trigger prosperity and progress. Standard of poverty in the world is one dollar income per person per day. In our State 1/3rd population is living under adverse poverty line where as, on the other side those countries who have much less GDP than us, the living standard of a common man is much better then Pakistanis, Srilanka is a perfect example where literacy rate is 95%.

Pakistan's image has improved and is improving in the comity of nation's? At what speed Pakistan's growth rate is rising? (Shara-e-Namu). Certainly these are the subjects which has a direct relation to our prestige and indignation, on the other side people also think that the problems which haunt them for more than half a century, when will they solve? The country is improving its image in the international world and progressing though only in official files and statements but when will the standard of living of the masses really improve? When will the class differences disappear in providing the basic facilities like education and health care? When will the distance reduce in reaching a Public hospital by a villager having an accident? When will the young people get rid of the curse of unemployment? Until when will the youngsters continue to burn their candles at home with the dark light of criminal world, gutted by unemployment? What kind of progress is this; where the county progresses but the citizens fall prey to move disparities.............. When will a poor Pakistani really experience progress? When will it be........?

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Life is a kaleidoscope of flaws, desires, emotions and mishaps__ YHK

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