poverty Alleviation w.r.t Pakistan

What is poverty ...etymology ... Explanation ...types...how poor are...poverty in Pakistan...Root causes of poverty...a) Feudal system ...b) Lack of proper Governance...c) Economic Vulnerability d)Political Instability and corruption...
e) Environmental factors f) Gender discrimination... Conclusion

Poverty

He is poor who doesn't have enough, he is poorer who cannot get enough."
(jean guehnno)
Poverty is ethical state not statistical . Poverty is a state who lacks some material possession and money. Destitutions means lack of basic human needs like shelter cloth ,
Fresh water food etc. About 1.7 billion people of the world are estimated to live in absolute poverty.
The word poverty came from latin word papuper =poor
Poverty is denial of choice and opportunities , violation of human dignity . It is lack of basic capacity to participate in society effectively . Poverty means not having enough to feed and cloth a family , not having school or clinic to go , not having any land to grow one’ food , not having any job to earn money . It is insecurity and powerlessness and exclusions of individual households and communities.
Absolute poverty has set of standards over time and between countries. The world define absolute poverty as having income less than $1(PPP) .Moderate poverty as having income less than $2-$5 per day.
About 1.1 billion people of the world in 2001 having consumption less than $1 , and 2.7 billion having consumption less than $2.
To fight agaist poverty is greatest challenge of our time. Continous efforts have been made in this regard. For developing world poverty rate has declined to 28% in 1999 to 21% in 2001.
Most improvements has occurred in south and Asia.
Pakistan is continuous source of poverty but is fair better than India and Bangladesh.
Middle class families has grown 40 million in Pakistan which is one quarter of population. According to Human development index 60.3% population of Pakistan lives under $2 per day.As in 2007-08 17.2% people are living below the poverty line . Which is highest figure in history of Pakistan . IMF has prepared poverty reduction interim strategy .Human Price Index of Pakistan is 0.572 which is better than of Bangladesh 0.543.
Poverty has risen 22-26% in fiscal year 1991 to 32-35% in fiscal year 1999. It has subsequently fallen to 27 %. In 2008 it has reduced to 17.2%.

According to Henry Gorge “ The main cause of poverty is personal ownership and monopoly . This fact is pertaining not only globally but specifically in Pakistan .
As Pakistan has feudal Landlords system, These landlords have thousands acres of land , and do very little work on agriculture for themselves . They have tenants . 51% tenants owe money from these landlords.
Pakistan needs adequate governance . As Pakistan has run by military dictatorship for the long period of time alternative with limited democracy. These rapid change in Government has led to rapid change in policy , and reduction of transparency.
Ignored states of Pakistan like Baluchistan and Khyber Pakshtunkhwa has renderd the region poverty.
Economic vulnerability is key factor for rise in poverty . Vulnerability arises from social insecurity powerlessness. Other sources of economic vulnerability is daily harassment by corrupt govt officers , underperformance and denial of basic rights . Lack of adequate health care , which is very expensive but still preferable to medical malpractice. Expired medicines are still available on stores which causes deaths of people.

Political instability and corruption causes reduction in business and deterioration of economic growth . Corruption is major cause and directly linked with poverty. The perceived security threat on Indian borders is dominant in Pakistan ‘s culture , which led to domination of military politics and excess spending on defense. Interior threats like terrorism also deteriorate economic growth . Foreign investors are reluctant to invest here.

Environmental factors like deforestation , delusion , agro –chemicals also contribute to poverty . Pollution increases toxicity resultant in poor industrial standard . Besides these natural disaster also increases poverty in country like 2010 flood , which causes thousands of people homeless , jobless and victim of poverty.
Gender discrimination also shape poverty in country. Traditional gender role defines woman’s role in home not in workplace , and man is breedwinner . thts why society invests more in man than in woman. Literacy rate for woman is 43.6% as compare to man which is 68.2% . In legislative woman constituted less than 3% in constitution.

The figures cited by the government for people living below the poverty line have come to be widely questioned. With poverty alleviation being the buzzword these days in our economic and social development and a key criterion for aid givers, Policymakers are desperately trying to make their success by reducing poverty levels, but unfortunately only policies can’t resolve the issue . Their must be proper implementations of these strategies and leadership for resolving this issue .
Main cause of poverty in our country is over population as Malthus stated “the race between increasing population and increasing production, population must win”
It is vital that poverty reduction measurement must be utilized, alternative startgies should be implement . Monopoly of individuals must be discouraged . As Karl Marx said
Main cause of poverty is personal ownership and monopoly of individuals on land , and is exploitations of workers.

“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings."
(Nelson Mendela)

Poverty is a multi-faceted phenomenon manifesting itself in a vicious circle; low saving and investment results in low income, poor education, lack of health facilities, unequal distribution of wealth and poor infra-structure. The goal for human development is to increase human capabilities and the level of choices. This will results in a benign and better environment in which humans are given sovereignty and respect.

Due to rapid globalization, countries and their economies are becoming more integrated, it also brings evil effects of rich countries on poor and under-developing countries. The dominant countries not only influence the policymaking of poor countries but also exploit them with the tools of tariff and quota‚s. This widens the gap between the rich and the poor countries of the world, the poor become poorer and the rich become richer.

The poor countries of the world have to reorganize themselves to extract the benefits of globalization and avoid the perils of globalization. They should not beg for loans from the Godfathers of the international arena. Poor countries are also infected because of the so-called economics reforms like downsizing and rightsizing, concomitant the unemployment and increase in the number of poor. The slogan “halving the poverty of world by 2015” was raised in the UN millennium declaration. Policy makers assumed that this statement could be made possible because of the brisk economics growth in India and china. 1.2 billion of total world population is living below poverty level, they are not earning more than 1 dollar a day, it is also aimed that in underdeveloped country the number of poor person will shift to 1 person out of six from 1 person out of three. Eight millennium goals were also there on the agenda to achieve. The millennium development goals (MDG’s) are: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve primary universal education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, ensure environment sustainability, build a global partnership for development.

The international institutions are doing their job to some extent. We can’t blame them. The debacle of Argentina was caused due to the fact that international financial intermediaries like IMF and WB were not willing to take into account the problem of poverty in UDC’s and provide these countries assistance and grants for poverty alleviation. These situations also reduce the chances of direct foreign investment in these countries, which use to be considered as the catalyst of economics growth. But the flow of direct foreign investment (DFI) is also induced by the geopolitical situations of the region.

As far as poverty in Pakistan is concerned, the situation is deteriorating. Many factors are responsible for this influx of poverty. This country has been facing political turmoil and shutdowns. People have been elected on the basis of their cast and their pervasive influence on the society, uncountable wealth earned from huge and tremendous corruption. The 8th amendment of Zia and 13th amendment of Nawaz couldn’t stabilize the pulse of dying politics. Out of 55 years of independence we face 28 year of military dictatorship which concomitant loss of Bangladesh, hunger, lack of clean water, lack of health care, huge amount of debt burden, unequal distribution of wealth, unemployment, inflation, and irrigation water problems. Nuclear tests of May 28th 1998, the September 11th incident of and the war in Afghanistan have all had negative consequences like cancellation of export orders (most from US), suspension of cargo and passenger flight and imposition of war risk charges (WRS). Another bitter reality is that for past three fiscal years 1.5 million people added to the rank of unemployment, in this atmosphere of political unrest poverty alleviation is like asking for the moon.

Pakistan has a population of 14 million out of which 40 million are living below the poverty level; funds have been allocated on various projects for the improvement of infrastructure and communications, now that is has been realized that the main problem Pakistan has been facing is poverty. In Pakistan, the poverty level varies from province to province. NWFP has the highest rural and urban poverty followed by Punjab. Another obstacle in the way of poverty alleviation is that funds are given not for the purpose of poverty alleviation but to obey the foreign donor and to say YES to them. The UDC’s governments usually do this to attract more foreign assistance.

Tension on borders is also a vital factor that contributes to salinity in the pool of poverty. If this phenomenon carries on for longer period of time, much of the resources reserved for poverty alleviation and for other social action programs will be deployed on military purposes. The social indicators, which explain the picture of poverty in a country, are showing a declining trend in Pakistan as compared to those countries, which have same income level.

Poverty alleviation is also disturbed because of the loopholes of ineffective policymaking, bureaucracy (Red-tapism) and political instability in the system. It is commonly said that the signing of poverty alleviation and growth facilities (PRGF) program for the assistance of 1 billion dollars is also need of the time. In the regard government hit two birds with one stone, fulfilling the foreign reserve shortage and for poverty alleviation. The reality is that policies for poverty alleviation and other social developmental programs are half-baked. Poverty alleviation and growth facility (PRGF) is a buzzword. PRGF is a panacea or a mirage is still a moot question, signing of PRDF is followed by some terms and condition as well. The budgets of 2002-03 and 2003-04 will be dictated by donor authorities, so one expect that there will be new lot of taxes, customs duties, surcharges in the name of collecting revenue instead of broadening tax base stopping tax evasions and educating people. Signing of PRGF paper is followed by a rescheduling of 12.5$ billion of its official debt through Paris club this has result in conversion of these loans into long term concessional loans with extended repayment time of 40 years. The expected reduction in official debt is expected to be 1 billion dollar per year; the important point is that the loan, which is rescheduled, 70 percent of it is already on concessional terms. The real support will be if the high-interest loans would be retired first. The real purpose of seeking rescheduling the debt is to relieve resources and put them on productive public investment to stimulate growth and ultimately alleviate poverty because the poverty alleviation heavily depend upon rapid growth.

The international godfathers are also insisting on eradicating child labor which is not possible because in countries like Pakistan child labor is indispensable, a child may be the only earning hand of his family, eradicating child labor mean increasing level of poverty and unemployment. Lack of good governance is also a factor, which has been contributing in increasing poverty, and it has become a major problem in UDC’s and it needs to be addressed.

Therefore it is important to bring changes on the micro and macro level. Easy access to education, health and food should be given to poor. If Pakistan is able to create an abiding peace with its neighbors, it can become a favorite destination of DFI and if this will happen it will reduce the poverty and social deprivation.

Financial institution like KHUSHHALLI bank (micro finance bank) and SME’s are also a well-appreciated step taken by government in the regard. KHUSHHALLI bank will provide cheep loans to the poor. It has a network in 33 districts and its beneficiaries are 20,000 households and it also has a capacity to reach 100,000 households. Small medium enterprises (SME’s) provides short term and long term loans to medium and small enterprises. It makes the provision of credit easy and accessible to common man. To eradicate poverty from its roots we have to fight against corruption, improve governance, ensure transparent use of funds, and improve the police and judicial system. Greater access and maximum trade is also important for poverty reduction. Pakistan is a developing country. The government should take honest, practical and firm steps in this regard and it should deal the problem of poverty with iron hand so we can switch towards prosperity and insure better future for our coming generations.
THE ISLAMIC CONCEPT OF POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND DESIRE OF PAKISTAN’S FOLLOW UP:

We need to understand the epistemological significance of poverty as defined and understood in Islam. Faqir (poorest of the poor) and Miskeen (whose legitimate needs exceed his means) are the two basic classifications of poor in Islam. Contrary to the interest based cosmetic approach, the Islamic way of poverty alleviation focuses on developing human resource and providing relevant job opportunity. The institutions identified for financial assistance to the poor are assistance by: the nearest kith and kin; the neighbors under neighborhood rights; others in the form of mandatory charity like Zakat; and through temporary and permanent endowments. Moreover, an Islamic State is bound to provide sustenance to its citizens irrespective of their religion. The State meets this responsibility by collection of Zakat, other emergent charities and raising taxes.

The enormity of such relief to the poor under Islam cannot be disputed. Instead of taking religion out of our public life, if we focus on integrating Islamic principles in our daily life, the social response to poverty, irrespective of the involvement of the State, would be far more supportive than all the donated funds together. Zakat and Bait-ul-Mal are the two institutions, which, if used properly, can address the problem of poverty to a great extent. The institution of Bait-ul-Mal has tremendous potential for reaching the poor and helping them to escape the poverty trap without engaging in the curse of micro-credit. An assessment of both Zakat and Bait-ul-Mal in terms of their mis-utilization and rehabilitative contribution is urgently required.

The importance of Islamic arrangements for poverty alleviation lies in the fact that the poor cannot afford loans at 20-25% interest rate, which either make them defaulters or the staff of concerned organizations get involved in corruption by showing funds reserved for other purposes as recovery of the micro-credit. More than 70 per cent rural population depend mainly on agriculture. The land tenure system is a colonial legacy. India addressed this problem in the initial few years, but the impact of land reforms in Pakistan, introduced on three occasions, has been less than structural. Instead of addicting more and more poor to micro-credit with no significant change in their poverty status, it is better for an authoritative regime, like Musharraf's, to introduce revolutionary land reforms and address the poverty problem on long-term basis.

Instead of purely relying on interest-based loans, programs like Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund and Khushhali Bank need to look into the Islamic ways, like Mudariba, Musharika, Khumus, etc for supporting the needy. The work opportunities through mega projects as described by the General in every speech are not going to address the suffering of millions living in remote regions, where cottage or rural industries need to be promoted on priority basis.

Pakistan introduced Zakat and Ushr ordinance in 1980. The collection of Ushr, a percentage of land produce, has not been very satisfactory because it is being done through the Land Revenue Administration which, as a legacy of the colonial days, is not tuned to such a revolutionary concept of an Islamic welfare State. However, if the legislation is enforced in letter and spirit, poverty will find no spawning grounds and the poor and the needy will be integrated with the rest of the society. There is also a need to introduce a representative system for the collection and utilization of Zakat. The new decentralized local government system can play a vital role in local collection and disbursement to the local poor. This would build social cohesion as well.

The ongoing poverty alleviation measures show that despite the fact that markets do not eliminate poverty, because they tend to move new wealth away from poor communities, most NGOs and the government follow the capitalist market doctrines. They secure dividends by concentrating investments in relatively favorable environments. The poorest people in the poorest places have thus disappeared in practice - if not in ideology and publicity - from NGO net-works and government programs, almost as surely as they vanished from private marketing surveys and business plans. Without coming back to Islam for finding solutions to our problems, we may never achieve the lofty goals that we set for ourselves - whether they are in the field of poverty alleviation or any other aspect of our collective and individual lives. The problem is that we are not ready to even give it a thought because the pockets in which we have put our hands for survival are leading us in exactly the opposite direction.

Development Priorities and Outlook POVERTY ALLEVIATION:

1. Pakistan's Objectives and Priorities

The Government's vision and development goals are articulated in the Ten-Year Perspective Development Plan 2001/11 (the Perspective Plan), and its poverty reduction strategy. The key objectives of the Ten-Year Perspective Plan are to

(i) accelerate GDP growth, reduce unemployment, and eliminate poverty;
(ii) contain public borrowing and encourage private sector and private savings;
(iii) improve economic competitiveness; (iv) build the human capital base; and
(iv) institutionalize social capital conducive to sustainable development. In pursuit of these key development objectives and priorities, the Government has set itself the following targets of the International Development Goals.

Poverty Reduction Targets.
The Government's poverty reduction target is to reduce absolute poverty from 30 percent in 2001 to 15 percent in 2011. The perspective plan envisages a four-pronged attack on poverty centering on empowering the poor and providing them with increased economic opportunities, greater access to physical and social assets, and improved access to welfare and support developing appropriate social safety nets. These in turn require revival of economic growth, and getting the Pakistan economy back on a sustainable, high growth path.

Reviving Growth and Creating Employment.

The strategy is to revive economic activity in the medium term, and accelerate it over the long term. The growth rate is projected to increase to 5.2 percent by 2004 to 6.3 percent by 2011. In the medium term, the four sectors identified to lead the revival of growth include agriculture, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), information technology, and energy (gas and coal). The Government's target is to create 11.3 million jobs during the Perspective Plan period by promoting growth in labor intensive sectors and activities such as agriculture and SMEs, as well as supporting rapid expansion of microcredit through a range of institutions and initiatives.

Human Development.

Government recognizes the need to improve the country's social indicators. However, the need to achieve macroeconomic stabilization by reducing the fiscal deficit, preclude the possibility of significantly increasing public expenditures on education, health and other social sectors in the medium term. Therefore, the strategy under the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (IPRSP) is to more effectively utilize available resources through governance reforms, improved institutional mechanisms; and increased focus on the disadvantaged, weaker sections of society and rural areas.

Governance Reforms

An extensive structural and governance reform agenda is an integral part of the governemnts Plan. The key problems that the reform agenda proposes to address include

(i) poor fiscal performance, including management of external and domestic debt;

(ii) problems associated with the persistent social exclusion of the poor, women, and minorities from access to basic services;

(iii) the chronic failure of past efforts to address accountability, corruption, and poor public sector performance;

(iv) ineffective and inefficient intergovernment relations between federal and provincial levels, and marginalization of local governments; and

(v) loss of trust by the common citizenry in public institutions, especially in the administration of justice and the police.

The Government's governance reform agenda covers three key areas:

(i) improving the public financial management system, public accounting and auditing functions, civil service, and tax administration;
(ii) enhancing effectiveness of delivery of basic public services through a comprehensive devolution plan; providing access to justice, and reducing vulnerability of poor through legal, judicial, and police reforms;

(iii) tackling corruption by reducing incentives for it through privatization, deregulation, tariff reduction, and tax system reforms; and establishing an effective anticorruption agency as a deterrent.

Sustainable Environmental Management.

The national conservation strategy was completed in 1992 and identifies 14 core management areas for action. The strategy was followed by the more comprehensive National Environmental Action Plan approved in February 2001, which narrowed the Government's policy focus on the environment to four core programs: clean air, clean water, waste management, and ecosystem management. Programs and projects relevant to all four core areas are currently being prepared for implementation. In 1997, the Environmental Protection Act was promulgated, providing a comprehensive framework for preservation of the environment and giving extensive powers of enforcement of environmental regulations to the environmental protection agencies