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Poverty can be defined as the condition in which one even cannot afford his basic needs of life like food, health protection, shelter, and clothing etc. This is one of the major problems that has haunted Pakistan right from the very inception and is even haunting us today in a worse form than before. According to the statistics shown in the economic survey of 2016, almost 40 percent people are living beyond poverty line. If we carefully examine the poverty line, it itself is based on a highly controversial figure of 1 dollar per day. This shows the gravity of the situation. Now I am going to mention some of the basic causes of poverty.
1. Lack of proper planning
Our governments don’t have the vision which results in the eradication of poverty. Their random and ad-hoc policies, for the time being, produce some positive results but lack the vision which can substantially reduce the poverty at the grass root level.
2. Corruption
Corruption is another reason which leads to poverty. Our corrupt system doesn’t allow poor to prosper. Jobs are very hard to find in our country without corruption which makes it virtually impossible for the poor to find a job without paying any bribery.
3. Unemployment
Most of the young people in our country are jobless or they are not earning enough to feed their families. Unemployment not only results in poverty but it leads towards terrorism, crimes, smoking etc.
4. Law and order situation
Business and trade activities in a country depend upon the law and order situation of that country. Unfortunately, the law and order situation in our country is not up to the global standard which makes it unsafe for the foreign investors to invest in Pakistan.
5. Low National savings
Countries with high national savings rate tend to be economically stable. Pakistan has very low savings rate compared with other countries of the region which don't allow the government to spend money on the measures to eradicate poverty.
6. High Taxes
Poor people are suffering from high tax rates. The recent hike in prices in power sector has negative drawdown effect on the poor.
7. Lack of Technology use
Agriculture is the backbone of the economy of Pakistan and mostly poor people are related to this field. Agriculture productivity is decreasing due to lack of technology use and this ultimately is affecting the very poor.
8. Lack of credit facilities
There is a lack of credit facilities for the poor, which is not allowing him to buy new machinery which can result in high productivity from cultivated land.
9. High Inflation
Reduction of inflation to a single digit is a positive indication but still, this is not enough. High inflation is causing wastage of precious income of the poor.
10. Less investment in human capital
Our government is constructing roads, bridges, and footpaths but is not focusing on the development of the human capital. This lack of interest in human capital has caused havoc in the society.
11. Lack of target-oriented subsidies
Government lacks the strategy through which it can provide subsidies to the poor people.
12. Difference between import and export
The Huge gap between import and export is causing a further increase in our national debt.
13. Privatization without planning
Privatization is a healthy model for the competition in the economic market but doing it without proper planning can cause havoc to the lives of poor. The increase in electricity rates is a major indication of the negative of privatization.
14. Overpopulation
Overpopulation is one of the major reasons of poverty. Overpopulation means that the country has to produce more resources to cope up with the needs of the people but keep in mind the poor economic condition of our country, it virtually becomes impossible to deal with such a situation.
15. Lack of education
Lack of education is one of the basic reasons for poverty in our country because education leads towards jobless and unemployment.
Steps to cope up with Poverty
1. Good governance
Good governance is the order of the day. Without good governance, it is impossible to improve the living conditions of the poor. We need to elect such people who can bring some positive change in this rotten system.
2. Confronting the corruption
The best method to confront corruption is to focus on good governance. Good governance and measures to defeat the menace of corruption can bring about positive results.
3. Reducing unemployment
In order to reduce unemployment, our government needs to take some positive steps through public-private partnerships model. This will not only eradicate corruption from different departments working under the government but will also improve their performance drastically.
4. Improving law and order situation
The government needs to take such actions which can provide a safe environment to both local and foreign investors to invest in Pakistan. Zarb-E-Azab has brought some positive changes in this regard but we need to do more.
5. Increasing national savings
We must try to increase the net of our national savings both vertically and horizontally. This is only possible if the government provides incentives to the common people for depositing their money into such schemes.
6. Reduction of taxes
Taxes must be reduced on the items related to the general public. This reduction can be compensated through taxes on luxury items.
7. Use of Technology
Technology can bring wonders. We must employ technology in every sector to cope up with the problem of low productivity.
8. Credit facilities
Poor people must be given credit facilities at their doorsteps and at a low-interest rate. This will improve the living standard of poor by providing them the money to invest into business.
9. Reduction of inflation
Inflation mostly affects the very poor of the society. The government must take steps to reduce inflation.
10. Investment in human capital
More focus should be given to human capital development. This means that labor should be trained according to the modern technical skills.
11. Target oriented subsidies
Target oriented subsidies and social safety net programs can prove advantageous in short term. Benazir income support is one example of such program but priority should be training them instead of making them beggars.
12. Filling the gap between import and export
The gap between export and import should be filled in order to save our precious national reserves. The saved reserved can be used for the poverty eradication.
13. Privatization with planning
Privatization is necessary for free trade economy but there should be some checks and balances from the government.
14. Controlling population
The population rate should be brought in a control with different measures. This will help us in planning the utilization our resources for the next generations.
15. Better education opportunities
Education should be made compulsory and attractive by providing some economic incentives to the poor.
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