Poverty is the state for the majority of the world’s people and nations. Why is this? Is it enough to blame poor people for their own predicament? Have they been lazy, made poor decisions, and been solely responsible for their plight? What about their governments? Have they pursued policies that actually harm successful development? Such causes of poverty and inequality are no doubt real. But deeper and more global causes of poverty are often less discussed.
Behind the increasing interconnectedness promised by globalization are global decisions, policies, and practices. These are typically influenced, driven, or formulated by the rich and powerful. These can be leaders of rich countries or other global actors such as multinational corporations, institutions, and influential people.
In the face of such enormous external influence, the governments of poor nations and their people are often powerless. As a result, in the global context, a few get wealthy while the majority struggle.
Today, Around 21,000 Children Died Around The World
Last updated Saturday, September 24, 2011.
- 1 child dying every 4 seconds
- 14 children dying every minute
- A 2011 Libya conflict-scale death toll every day
- A 2010 Haiti earthquake occurring every 10 days
- A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring every 11 days
- An Iraq-scale death toll every 19–46 days
- Just under 7.6 million children dying every year
- Some 92 million children dying between 2000 and 2010
REASONS FOR POVERTY IN PAKISTAN.
Pakistan is a poor country. Its economy is facing fluctuations now a day. At the time of independence Pakistan has very low resources and capital, so the processes of progress were very slow. Unfortunately the politicians of Pakistan were all not well aware of modern global system and the progress processes and the needs of country. Due to bad policies today Pakistan is facing a lot of problems. The continuous failure of policies leads the people of country to miserable conditions. The major problem in the country is poverty which is becoming the cause of crime and social disorder.
Poverty in Pakistan is one of the most burning issues. As of 2010, “about 40 percent of the total population was living below the poverty line” (World Bank). It means more than one-third of the total population or in other word about 70 million out of 180 million people are living below the poverty line. The history shows that there was declining rate of poverty in 1970s and 1980s. However, from 1990s till today the poverty is in increasing trend. This phenomenon has been called POVERTY BOMB.
The main reasons of Poverty in Pakistan is the destabilizing of democracy, unbridled corruption, fast growing population, sorry state of education sector, ineffective management of natural resources, feudalism, uncontrolled inflation etc. Besides these national factors there are some International factors which have added fuel to the fire. Like global financial crisis, increasing price of oil, world food crisis etc
It is difficult to point out all causes of poverty in Pakistan but the major causes of are given below:
Government Policies:
Government is not well aware of present conditions of country. The policies of government are base on the suggestions of officials which do not have awareness about the problems of a common man. After implementation the policies do not get effective result. After the failure of one policy, government does not consider its failure and announces another policy without studying the aftermaths of last one. Heavy taxes and unemployment crushes the people and they are forced to live below poverty line. The suitable medical facilities are not provided to people and they are forced to get treatment for private clinics which are too costly.
Corruption:
Another cause of poverty is corruption. There are two types of corruption. There is not morality and every one is trying to earn more and more by using fair and unfair means. Officials waste their time has low efficiency. Only one relationship that is exists in society is money. One has to pay a heavy cost to get his right. Law and order conditions are out of control and institutions are failed to provide justice to a common man. Justice can be bought by money only. But government is unable to control such type of things. In this whole scenario some corrupt people has been occupying the resources and common man is living in miserable conditions.
Division of Agricultural Land:
Pakistan is an agricultural country. Most of people are farmers by profession. One has land which is fulfilling the needs of his family but he has to divide the land into his children when they got young. After division the land is not sufficient to support a family. Now the families of his children are suffering and spending their lives below poverty line.
Materialism:
In our society social bonding are gradually becomes thinner and thinner. A race of material object has been started even no one tried to understand the problems of others. Every one is gradually changing from human to a bioman which only know about his needs and have no concept about the limitations of others. People are not ready to help each other. At last every one has lose his trust on others which effect our social and economic system and it is another cause of poverty.
Lack of Education:
The literacy rate of Pakistan is very low. Most of people do not have any concept about the modern earning sources. Most people are unable to adopt technology for their business needs, that’s why business do not meet international standards and results as decrease in revenue which lead the society to poor financial conditions.
Large Scale Import:
The import of Pakistan is greater than export. Big revenue is consumed in importing good every year, even raw material has to import for industry. If we decrease import and establish own supply chains from our country natural resources the people will have better opportunities to earn.
Law and Order:
There are lot of problems regarding law and order. Terrorist attacks create uncertainty in stock markets and people earning from stock are getting loss due to which the whole country faces uncertain increase in commodity prices.
Fluctuated Foreign investment::
Foreign investor comes to local markets. They invest millions of dollars in stock markets and stock market gets rise in index. Then the investor withdraws his money with profit and market suddenly collapses. The after math always be faced by poor people.
Privatization:
Government is unable to manage the departments and country has low reserve assets. So the meet the requirements some companies run by government are sold to foreign investors. The commodities or services provided by the companies are becoming costly. For example if government sold a gas plant then prices for gas in country rises.
Moral Culture:
The main reason for poverty is the social dishonesty and irresponsible behavior of people. Every one is trying to get rich by using unfair means. A shop keeper is ready to get whole money from the pocket of customer. People doing jobs are not performing their duties well. In society the man considered brave or respectful who do not pay taxes or continuously violate the laws. This irresponsible behavior continuously increases and produces loss for county.
SOLUTIONS FOR POVERTY IN PAKISTAN
- CHILD-LABOR
- De-track from Moral and Religious values
“No man can worship God or love his neighbor on an empty stomach.” (Woodrow- T. Wilson)
- Crimes and Violence
- Health Problems
- Sub-standard lives
- Enhance Education facilities
- Implement Law & Order
