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Urgent provisions needed to rescue the poor and destitute
On the footpath outside Sabir Hotel in Karachi, situated on the proximity of Jamia Cloth Market, off MA Jinnah Road, gather hundreds of poor people every day, anxiously waiting for some philanthropist to order free food for them.
A couple of years ago, only drug addicts would throng the hotel, but with inflation now at 24.5 per cent, large numbers of people from the working class and the lower middleclass, including women, are seen outside Sabir Hotel. Similar crowds can be seen in other parts of the city, where people wait for free food because they are unable to afford it with their meagre incomes.
"The exact figures will be available when the Economic Survey is published, but an estimated five per cent of the population has been added to below the poverty line in Pakistan," Dr Kaiser Bengali, an eminent economist told TSI. According to a UNDP report, 65.5 per cent of the 160 million population of Pakistan earns less than two dollars a day and they are defined as living below the poverty line.
Haris Gazdar, an economist associated with Collective for Social Science Research based in Karachi agrees that at least five per cent additional population has been pushed below the poverty line in recent months. He said it was high time that the government introduce an employment guarantee scheme on the lines provided by India to combat poverty. "In fact, the Pakistan People's Party manifesto has such a provision, but it has not been implemented as yet," he said. Also he added that the poorest sections of the populace should be provided social security and a cash support programme, while their children should be ensured food support at schools.
Bengali who has been the National Coordinator Benazir Income SupportProgram (BISP) and Member National Finance Commission, believes the extent of economic crisis in Pakistan today is structural. He points out that it was in the making for 30 years but was aggravated during the last eight years. "Without the policies followed in the last eight years, we would have lasted a few more years but we were heading for a doom," he told The News on November 2.
"In the last 30 years, we have not invested in our infrastructure, both physical and human. A lot of our infrastructure is non-productive and is falling apart. The basic problem is that the economy is not producing what it ought to. Our annual food production growth rate is one per cent, population is growing at 2.5 per cent per annum, so shortages are bound to occur," he said. Bengali believes that the Benazir Income Support Program would enable the poorest segment of the society, that earns Rs 5,000 per month, to boost its income by 20 per cent. He dismisses the notion that the bulk of the money earmarked for the scheme would be appropriated by a bureaucracy that is corrupt to the core.
"The money will be directly transferred from the ministry of finance to beneficiaries through an electronic postal system," he argues. About 3.5 million people would benefit from the scheme.However, given the track record of Pakistan, one could hardly believe that the bulk of the amount earmarked for families living below the poverty line would not be misappropriated by a corrupt bureaucracy working under still more corrupt ministers.
Shahid Husain
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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Urgent provisions needed to rescue the poor and destitute
On the footpath outside Sabir Hotel in Karachi, situated on the proximity of Jamia Cloth Market, off MA Jinnah Road, gather hundreds of poor people every day, anxiously waiting for some philanthropist to order free food for them.A couple of years ago, only drug addicts would throng the hotel, but with inflation now at 24.5 per cent, large numbers of people from the working class and the lower middleclass, including women, are seen outside Sabir Hotel. Similar crowds can be seen in other parts of the city, where people wait for free food because they are unable to afford it with their meagre incomes.
"The exact figures will be available when the Economic Survey is published, but an estimated five per cent of the population has been added to below the poverty line in Pakistan," Dr Kaiser Bengali, an eminent economist told TSI. According to a UNDP report, 65.5 per cent of the 160 million population of Pakistan earns less than two dollars a day and they are defined as living below the poverty line.
Haris Gazdar, an economist associated with Collective for Social Science Research based in Karachi agrees that at least five per cent additional population has been pushed below the poverty line in recent months. He said it was high time that the government introduce an employment guarantee scheme on the lines provided by India to combat poverty. "In fact, the Pakistan People's Party manifesto has such a provision, but it has not been implemented as yet," he said. Also he added that the poorest sections of the populace should be provided social security and a cash support programme, while their children should be ensured food support at schools.
Bengali who has been the National Coordinator Benazir Income SupportProgram (BISP) and Member National Finance Commission, believes the extent of economic crisis in Pakistan today is structural. He points out that it was in the making for 30 years but was aggravated during the last eight years. "Without the policies followed in the last eight years, we would have lasted a few more years but we were heading for a doom," he told The News on November 2.
"In the last 30 years, we have not invested in our infrastructure, both physical and human. A lot of our infrastructure is non-productive and is falling apart. The basic problem is that the economy is not producing what it ought to. Our annual food production growth rate is one per cent, population is growing at 2.5 per cent per annum, so shortages are bound to occur," he said. Bengali believes that the Benazir Income Support Program would enable the poorest segment of the society, that earns Rs 5,000 per month, to boost its income by 20 per cent. He dismisses the notion that the bulk of the money earmarked for the scheme would be appropriated by a bureaucracy that is corrupt to the core.
"The money will be directly transferred from the ministry of finance to beneficiaries through an electronic postal system," he argues. About 3.5 million people would benefit from the scheme.However, given the track record of Pakistan, one could hardly believe that the bulk of the amount earmarked for families living below the poverty line would not be misappropriated by a corrupt bureaucracy working under still more corrupt ministers.
Shahid Husain
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
Read these article :-
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
1500-plus IIPM students placed across the country with 44 bagging international offers
IIPM set to beat economic slowdown
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM awards four Bengali novelists
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
» IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
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