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Poverty in Pakistan is a major economic issue. Nearly one-third of the population is classified poor . The declining trend on poverty in the country seen during the 1970s and 1980s was reversed in the 1990s . This phenomenon has been referred to as the "Poverty Bomb" .The government of Pakistan has prepared an "Interim Poverty reduction Strategy Paper" that suggest guidelines to reduce poverty in the country.

As of 2006, Pakistan's Human Development Index is 0.527, higher than that of nearby Bangladesh (0.520), which was formerly a part of Pakistan but lower than that of neighboring India (0.602).

Incidences of poverty in Pakistan rose from 22-26% in the Fiscal Year 1991 to 32-35% in the Fiscal Year 1999. since that year, the growth rate of poverty has intensified, development spending has declined, and severe droughts have taken place .

Spatial Distribution of Poverty

Poverty in Pakistan has historically been higher in rural areas and lower in the cities. Out of the total 47 million living below the poverty line, 35 million live in rural areas. Poverty rose sharply in the rural areas in the 1990s and the gap in income between urban and rural areas of the country became more significant. This trend has been attributed to a disproportionate impact of the economic slowdown in the rural areas caused by low economic growth, decline in public sector development spending and lower worker remunerations .

There are also significant inhomogenities in the different regions of Pakistan that contribute to the country's rising poverty. In the 1999 Fiscal year, the urban regions of the Sindh province had the lowest levels of poverty, and the rural areas of the North West Frontier Province had the highest. Punjab also has significant gradients in poverty among the different regions of the province .

In addition, the North Western Frontier Provinces of Pakistan are among the most impoverished in the country Outside the cities, government investment has been negligible, and social and economic structures remained tribal and backward. In the absence of economic development, the Pushtun people of the region dealt in arms and drugs, smuggling people and goods, especially during their support of the Soviet invasion of neighboring Afghanistan and, later, in support of the Taleban regime. These and other activities have led to a breakdown of law and order in many parts of the region .

Poverty and Gender

The gender discriminatory practices in Pakistani society also shape the distribution of poverty in the country. Traditional gender roles in Pakistan define the woman's place as in the home and not in the workplace, and define the man as the breadwinner. Consequently, the society invests far less in women than men . Women in Pakistan suffer from poverty of opportunities throughout their lives. Female literacy in Pakistan is 29% compared to Male literacy at 55%. In legislative bodies, women have constitute less than 3% of the legislature elected on general seats. The 1973 Constitution allowed reserved seats for women in both houses of parliament for a period of 20 years, thus ensuring that women would be represented in parliament regardless of whether or not they are elected on general seats. This provision lapsed in 1993, so parliaments elected subsequently did not have reserved seats for women. Reserved seats for women have been restored in the elections scheduled for October 2002, and will constitute 17 percent of the strength of Parliament.Female labor rates in Pakistan are exceptionally low.

All this, coupled with the rise of honor killings against women, a legal system that is regarded as misogynistic, and the intransigent denial of these problems by the Pakistan government, as well as their institutionalized harrassment of women's rights groups operating in the country , contribute to the deteriorating situation with women and the rise in their poverty.

Economic and Social Vulnerability

"Vulnerability" in this case stands for the underlying susceptibility of economically deprived people to fall into poverty as a result of exogenous random shocks. Vulnerable households are generally found to have low expenditure levels. Households are considered vulnerable if they do not have the means to smooth out their expenses in response to changes in income. In general, vulnerability is likely to be high in households clustered around the poverty line. Since coping strategies for vulnerable households depend primarily on their sources of income, exogenous shocks can increase reliance on non-agricultural wages. Such diversification has not occurred in many parts of Pakistan, leading to an increased dependence on credit..

While economic vulnerability is a key factor in the rise of poverty in Pakistan, vulnerability also arises from social powerlessness, political disenfranchisement, and ill-functioning and distortionary institutions, and these also are important causes of the persistence of vulnerability among the poor..

Other causes of vulnerability in Pakistan are the everyday harrassment by corrupt government officials, as well as their underperformance, exclusion and denial of basic rights to many in Pakistan. Also, lack of adequate health care by the state lead the poor to seek private sources, which are expensive, but still preferable to the possibility of medical malpractice and being given expired medicines in state run medical facilities. Also, the failure by the state to provide adequate law and order in many parts of the country is a factor in the rise of vulnerability of the poor.

Environmental Issues

Environmental problems in Pakistan, such as erosion, use of agro-chemicals, deforestation etc. contribute to rising poverty in Pakistan. Increasing pollution contributes to increasing risk of toxicity, and poor industrial standards in the country contribute to rising pollution .

Lack of Adequate Governance

By the end of the 1990s, the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country's social and economic resources for development emerged as Pakistan's foremost developmental problem. Corruption and political instabilities such as various separatist movements in Balochistan and Waziristan resulted in reduction of business confidence, deterioration of economic growth, reduced public expenditure, poor delivery of public services, and undermining of the rule of law . The perceived security threat on the border with India has dominated Pakistan's culture and has led to the domination of military in politics, excessive spending on defense at the expense of social sectors, and the erosion of law and order.

Pakistan has been run by military dictatorships for large periods of time, alternating with limited democracy. These rapid changes in governments led to rapid policy changes and reversals and the reduction of transparency and accountability in government. The onset of opppressive regimes have contributed to non-transparency in resource allocation. In particular, the neglect by the Pakistani state of the Balochistan and North Western Frontier Provinces has rendered the region poverty-stricken . Those who do not constitute the political elite are unable to make political leaders and the Government responsive to their needs or accountable to promises. Development priorities are determined not by potential beneficiaries but by the bureaucracy and a political elite which may or may not be in touch with the needs of the citizens. Political instability and macroeconomic imbalances have been reflected in poor creditworthiness ratings, even compared to other countries of similar income levels, with resulting capital flight and lower foreign direct investment inflows. The current government of Pakistan has professed committments to reforms in this area.

Feudalism

Pakistan is home to a large feudal landholding system where landholding families hold thousands of acres and do little work on the agriculture themselves. They enlist the services of their serfs to perform the labor of the land . 51% of poor tenants owe money to the landlords . The landlords position of power allows them to exploit the only resource the poor can possibly provide: their own labor.

Poverty and the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism

The rise of poverty in the country has been correlated with the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism in many parts of the country. The Pakistani government's attempts at proposed reforms have been criticized as "weak" and has been associated with an "expedient brand of romance between the establishment and the religious right". The continued marginalization of liberal, democratic forces has aggravated the situation. One third of all children being educated in Pakistan attend madrassas over secular schools. Madrassa education is offerred on the pretext that they provide better education than the much neglected secular schools . They study in a religious environment that has been radicalized by the state-sponsored exposure of the "Holy Jihad" in Afghanistan and against India in Kashmir.

Poverty and the lack of a modern curriculum have proved destabilizing factors for Pakistani society that have been exploited by religious organizations banned by the government to run schools and produce militant literature.Though many madrassas are benign, those that subscribe to the radicalist branches of Sunni Islam, such as the Deobandi and Barelvi sects draw recruits from the poor.Madrassas under these entities provide Islamist education with a sectarian bias .

As a result, religious parties and clergy have become more powerful in Pakistan and have considerable sympathy among the poor. This phenomenon is also pronounced in the North Western Frontier Province.

References

1. Asian Development Bank report on Poverty in Pakistan: Issues, Causes, and Institutional Responses Online Edition
2. Pakistan: Now the Poverty Bomb goes off, M, Ziauddin, Third World Network
3. ADB Report pg 9
4. ADB report pg 11
5. ADB report pg 11
6. ADB report pg 11
7. Pakistan is Losing the Fight Against Fundamentalism buzzle.com
8. ADB report pg 13
9. Kabeer, Naila (1994). Reversed Realities. Verso, London.
10. Honour killings of girls and women: Amnesty International
11. Pakistan: Women Face Their Own Crisis Human Rights Watch
12. ADB report pg 15
13. ADB report pg 16
14. ADB report pg 16
15. ADB report pg 29
16. Poverty in the context of Pakistan iucn.org
17. ADB report pg 33
18. ADB report pg 34
19. PAKISTAN: Feudalism: root cause of Pakistan’s malaise - News Weekly
20. Archive of The Asian Age: Rise of fundamentalism in Pakistan
21. Archive of The Asian Age: Rise of fundamentalism in Pakistan
22. Ziad Talks Fundamentalism Columbia Daily Spectator
23. Archive of The Asian Age: Rise of fundamentalism in Pakistan
24. Archive of The Asian Age: Rise of fundamentalism in Pakistan
25. C. Lys (2006). "Demonizing the "Other:" Fundamentalist Pakistani Madrasahs and the Construction of Religious Violence". Marburg Journal of Religion( Link). 11 (1). {{cite journal}}: External link in |journal= (help); line feed character in |title= at position 67 (help)
26. Pakistan is Losing the Fight Against Fundamentalism

External links

• Poverty in Pakistan
• Pakistan Poverty Assessment by the World Bank

• Pakistan
• Poverty by Country
• Economy of Pakistan