A large chunk of population in
Pakistan is living below the poverty line. According to the Benazir Income
Support Program (BISP), 45.7 percent people (Approximately 82 million) in
Pakistan are living below the poverty line. And out of these 45.7 percent
people 36.5 percent million (Approximately 65 million) of the total population
are living in chronic poverty.
At the end of fiscal year 2010-11, the data
from labour force survey shows that 3.4 million people (1.55 million in urban
and 1.85 in rural areas) are unemployed in Pakistan and the data from current
economic survey of Pakistan shows that till December 2011 the total number of
unemployed workforce was 3.53 million, the unemployment rate was 5.95 percent
in December 2011 which is same comparing with the preceding period of last
fiscal year.
The current government is of the view that
it will reduce the unemployment level and eradicate poverty level in
Pakistan. For that purpose in the budget
2012-13, the government allocated Rs. 9.5 billions for provision of 100,000
internships to the unemployed educated youth of Pakistan under the National
Internship Programme (NIP) in public as well as private sector.
This is an appreciable step by the current
government, but the issue is when these 100,000 young graduates complete their
internships, is there any guaranty from the current government that they will
get permanent jobs? Will the next government have the capacity to adjust these
100,000 interns in different sectors?
Giving relief to the labour, on 1st May
2012 the federal government has increased minimum wage of labours in Pakistan
from 7000 rupees to 8000 rupees. However, the labours considered it a joke with
them, as in the current scenario one can not run the budget of any house in
8000 rupees a month.
Inflation rate is very high, the prices of
basic necessities are increasing, electricity tariffs are increasing almost
every month, CNG and Petroleum prices are increasing which, in turn, is
resulting in the increase of transportation charges. Children’s education
related expenses are also increasing due to inflation. So, in such
circumstances, how can a family manage its expenses in just 8000 rupees? Does
the current government have the answer to this question?
Another step to reduce the poverty level in
the budget 2012-13, is an increment of 20 percent salary of government employees
in the federal budget 2012-13, which is also a minor step as the government
employees are demanding revision of scales with a hundred percent increase in
basic salary, but the government has increased only 20 percent salary and that
is just an addition in ad-hoc relief allowance. As a matter of fact, this
increment along with increment in wage of labors is very low.
According to this increment, the BPS-1
employee will receive only 960 rupees per month. The government employees have
rejected this increment as they are of the view that it is very difficult to
manage their current expenditures in the current salary and it will remain
difficult to manage with the increment as well.
The Benazir Income Support Program (BISP)
which was started by the PPP government in 2008 with the primary objective of
providing immediate relief to the poor. Millions of families are being paid
cash assistance of Rs.1000 per month at their doorstep, the cash assistance is
provided to those families that have the overall monthly income of 5000 rupees.
BISP is also running some other programmes,
including Waseela-e-Rozgar, Waseela-e-Sehat and Waseela-e-taleem. Under these
programmes at minor levels, people are getting the facilities of education,
health and employment. In the current budget Rs. 70 billion are allocated to
BISP and it is expected that till the end of this government’s tenure more
families will get benefits from BISP.
The BISP is a good initiative and to some
extent it is beneficial for the poor people but one should not forget the fact
that in the past when the governments packed up, unfortunately, their
programmes and projects also ended. Nobody knows what will be the future of
BISP.
In the current budget, the overall fiscal
deficit is estimated at Rs. 1105 billion, financing this huge deficit, the
government will rely on internal and external sources. Talking about internal
sources, Finance Minister says the government will not borrow from the State
Bank of Pakistan (SBP) but experts are of the view that it is not possible that
the government will not borrow from SBP.
Deficit financing will in turn increase
inflation and that in turn reduce purchasing power of the people. In other
words, the poverty level will increase.
On a broader level, poverty can’t be
alleviated by starting programmes like BISP, or giving minor relief to the poor
people of the country. Poverty can be alleviated through building efficient
labour market, which can promote job creation, provision of high quality
education opportunities to the youth on a permanent basis.
Unfortunately in Pakistan, policies are
made on a short term basis. Resultantly, poor governance is one of the main
reasons of poverty in Pakistan. Like previous budgets, the current budget is
also unable to provide ample relief to the poor people of the country.
Therefore, the country needs to focus on
tackling the energy crises, providing technical education, investing in long
term employment generating projects, and reducing non development expenditures.
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