H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.

com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

Poverty

Poverty indeed is the most challenging problem faced by the developing and
under developed countries in the modern world. It is not wrong to say
widespread poverty in the developing and undeveloped countries
distinguishes them from the developed countries, where the absence of
poverty is most conspicuous.

What is poverty?
We may define it as socio-economic phenomenon due to which the
persons affected by it may not be able to provide themselves, even the basic
needs of their lives i.e.:-food, clothing and shelter.

According to Gillin and Gillin:

“Poverty is that condition in which a person either because of

inadequate income or unwise expenditure does not maintain a scale of living
high enough to provide for his physical and mental efficiency and to enable
him and his natural dependents to function fully according to the standards
of the society of which he is a member.”

Goddard has defined poverty as:

“Poverty is insufficient supply of those things which are requisite for

an individual to maintain himself and dependent upon him in health and
vigor.

In short, when a man has lower income or is not able to meet both the ends,
he is called poor and the state is called poverty.
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

There are two types of poverty as follows:

1. Absolute poverty: Absolute poverty is the state of a part of the

population that is unable to satisfy essential needs for maintaining
their lives.

Absolute poverty refers to a set standard which is consistent over time and
between countries. An example of an absolute measurement would be the
percentage of the population eating less food than is required to sustain the
human body (approximately 2000-2500 kilocalories per day). Absolute
poverty is a condition that applies to people with the lowest incomes, the
least education, the lowest social status, the fewest opportunities, etc.

2. Relative poverty: Relative poverty is the state of a part of the

population living in conditions below the average level of the
community.

According to the famous economist Adam Smith,” Poverty is relative idea as

it can be less or more. Its increase or decrease can be measured by needs of
life proportionately.”

The main understandings of the term Poverty includes:

• Descriptions of material need, typically including the necessities of daily

living (food, clothing, shelter, and health care). Poverty in this sense may
be understood as the deprivation of essential goods and services.
• Descriptions of social need, including social exclusion, dependency, and
the ability to participate in society. This would include education and
information.
• Describing a lack of sufficient income and wealth. The meaning of
"sufficient" varies widely across the different political and economic
parts of the world.

Poverty is not only about shortage of money. It is about rights and

relationships; about how people are treated and how they regard themselves;
about powerlessness, exclusion and loss of dignity.
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

Causes and effects of poverty

A World Bank Report released in 2000, which has been described as
“revealing” in the West, throws lights on the causes and effects of global
poverty. This study titled “Voices of the poor” presents detailed personal
accounts from over 60,000 men and women in 60 countries about the
realities of life in poverty and how the poor should improve their lives. It
highlights the object wretchedness of poor man’s life which is compounded
by hunger, powerlessness, social isolation, state corruption, gender
inequality and the apathy and rudeness of local officials. According to many
of those interviewed; poverty is much more than a lack of income. Poverty
also means having no ‘voice’ in influencing key decisions that affect their
lives, or representation in state and national political institutions.

Causes of poverty in Pakistan

So far as Pakistan is concerned some peculiarities due to its different

political and social set-up. We may discuss these factors under personal,
political, economic, biological, technological and social heads.

1. Personal factors
Among the personal factors may include the physical weakness,
habits, defects or diseases which may be hereditary or accidental. All
these factors affect the efficiencies of the worker to complete in the world
and adequate earnings. Hunter says “poverty and sickness form a vicious
partnership, each helping the other to the miseries of the most unfortunate
section of mankind”.

2. Illiteracy
An illiterate person either has no capacity or low capacity to earn.
Hence the illiteracy and poverty is said to be correlated. Many people
remain illiterate even after 55 years of independence the rate of illiteracy
is as low as 45 % according to 1998 census report. This has a direct
bearing on the destiny of the common man.
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

3. Idleness
This is also one of the causes of poverty in Pakistan. There are many
persons who do not work and prefer begging for their live hood though
they get sufficient opportunity of working. As a result of beggar’s are
found everywhere in the country. In many cases they are turned out of
job because of ill- health and are forced to beg. Hence there are in large
numbers in Sindh and Balochistan due to hot climate and weather.

4. Extravagance
There is no denying the fact that extravagant, persons are always poor,
no matter, how much money they earn because they spend the money in
no time and so they always remain under debt. In our country the
expenditure made on marriages and festivals result of in extravagance in
horrible. There is no money left for good living, education, sanitation,
medicine and other necessities of life. As compared to other countries
national income per capital in Pakistan IS VERY LOW Rs 22939. Hence
there is no margin for savings.

5. Geographical actors
The population of Pakistan rose rapidly during the last three years
decades while our industrial and agricultural production. A country can
develop only when there are natural resources. That is why the resident
of desert or hilly areas, who has lack of natural resources like minerals
and materials are generally poor. As a result of there factors poor is more
in undeveloped areas of Pakistan due to hilly and desert areas poverty is
more in Sindh and Balochistan. Natural climates such as droughts,
floods, earthquakes etc. according to the state bank of Pakistan report
(2001), “in the agriculture sector, the estimates shows the major crops are
likely to grow only by 1.2 %, and overall growth of the sector may be
around 2.3%.

6. Social Factors
Among social factors may be include the joint family system, the caste
and biradari, system and supervision which have been an impediment in
the economic development in the country. The joint family system
discourages young persons to go out and strive for new ventures. Due to
the minimum security provided by the family, people become lethargic
and homesick and do not like to leave their homes even if chances of
extra earnings are fair.
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

The cast system is also a hindrance to the development of new enterprises

as it discourages its members to leave their traditional occupations. Some
of the religious beliefs revolving round superstition and fatalism i.e. we
cannot change our fate, or there is no use of much efforts as the results
are pre-ordained, discourage certain groups to work hard and kill the
spirit of adventure. Similarly, some persons such as recluse and hermits
believe that this world is illusionary and there is no use in acquiring
much wealth. These beliefs are mostly confined to ignorant and illiterate
people who form the bulk of our masses. This belief is also a cause of
their poverty. The ex-prime minister and architect of Modern Singapore,
Mr. Lee KuanYew wonders loudly how the people which are more
interested in life after death can make great economic progress on earth.
So the religious leaders have also to agree to let go the brakes they often
apply on progress and regard needless poverty too as un-Islamic. Here
lies the Muslim dilemma.

7. Economic Factors

The important economic factors responsible for poverty are:

a) Unequal distribution of wealth:

Even if the production is sufficient; millions of people remain poor
due to inequitable or unequal distribution of wealth. This is particularly
true I our country wherein owing to unwise economic policy of the
successive governments, rich people are becoming richer and poor are
becoming more and more poor.

b) The economic depression:

The present economic depression is responsible for the decrease in
trade and commerce; closure of thousands of factories and
unemployment of millions of people and small traders which has
ultimately resulted into the worsening the state of poverty leading to
unprecedented corruption, crimes and suicides in recent years.
Rising poverty in Pakistan during the 1990’s was partly the result of the
sluggish economic growth in that period and partly because of the failure
of the military government of 1980’s to translate the economic growth in
that decade in that specific measures aimed at improving the conditions
of life for the common man.
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

c) No voice:
Ironically, poverty also means large segments of the population
having no choices in influencing economic decisions that affect their
lives. This is true even in countries which have no democratic system. In
Pakistan, it is well known that poverty has stratified the society by
leaving the poor marginalized in the structure, with the rich enjoying the
power, privileges and influence which they can buy with their wealth.

d) The Feudal System:

The root cause of rural poverty lies in the basic social structure of a
rural society, with its inequitable distribution of land a feudal system
which perpetuates this inequality. The Zamindari system introduced by
the British Government led to the exploitation of tenants by the
feudalists. Feudalism of medieval era still exist as evident from private
jails and slave-like labor camps run by these powerful feudalists who
keep the families of the poor and debt-ridden farm hands in sub-human
conditions and make them work like slaves ostensibly to pay-off loans
that are given to the peasants in such a way that their repayment is never
possible with its fantastic rates of interest and compound interest charged
on them along with many inhuman conditions attached to them.
The feudalism is the biggest hindrance in the ways of any meaningful
transformation particularly in rural areas which needs to be urgently
addressed. They hold a predominant place in power-troika in Pakistan
irrespective of the fact whether the country is ruled by military or civilian
government.

e) The land reforms:

The land reforms of 1959 and 1972 had very little practical effects and
many studies in the field indicate that the main part of the land was
retained by the landlords on various pretexts. Only a small part of land
holdings above the ceiling of 500 acres was handed over of which 57%
was barren and un cultivable for which also the government paid
compensation to landlords. Subsequently, about 50% of this acquired
land was again taken over by the representatives of the landlords by fraud
or force.
Even, under the 1972 land reforms, according to some studies, not more
than 0.001 percent of the total farm area could be resumed and that
with produce index values, one could retain 400 acres in the Punjab and
480 acres in Sindh. With other exemptions for tube wells and tractors, a
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

family was allowed to retain 932 acres in irrigated areas of the Punjab
and 1120 acres in Sindh.
This evaluation of our land reforms would indicate that feudalism is quite
an ugly reality. Consequently, the need of introducing effective land
reforms cannot be over emphasized. This, in turn, would ensure security
of tenure to tenant farmers and encouragement to peasants farming
leading to rural prosperity. In this way cooperative farming could also be
encouraged for better yield.

f) High rate of Population Growth:

By far the most serious bottleneck in sustainable development is
Pakistan’s rapid population growth. At present Pakistan’s total
population is about 15 million which ranks it as the seventh most
populated country in the world. The population growth rate is quite high.
It is estimated by the year 2050 the population if the country will be 300
million. The grim fact that unless the population growth rate is brought
under control, Pakistan will not be able to provide for the basic needs of
its fast growing population: food, water, health care, shelter and energy.
Therefore, Pakistan’s family planning program needs a boost. Pakistan
cannot afford laxity in this matter. A strong relationship between
increased population growth and increased poverty exists. They are both
inter-dependent. Pakistan faces a formidable task in tackling the problem
of poverty in the country having limited resources.

Effects of Poverty in Pakistan

Like every other country, Pakistan is also facing serious poverty problems.
Let us see the major effects on the population and economy of the country
caused by poverty.

1. In the economic sphere, the existence of poverty reduces drastically one’s

capacity to save. Lower savings; in turn become a cause for lower capital
accumulation result in the lesser productivity. Less productivity in its
turn leads to lower income i.e. poverty, thus completing a ferocious
structure.
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

2. Poverty often leads to poor health in the people. Poor health in its turn,
leads to lower working capability, thus resulting in poverty again.

3. Since a very large portion of the earnings of poor people is used for fool
and clothing, they have little or nothing left to save. Thus, in case of the
poor, the struggle for survival becomes the most important issue from
which they have no hope to escape.

4. Poverty often leads not only to poor education or no education but also
sometimes develops a belief that education will not serve any purpose to
solve their problems. The first belief is easier to understand because it is
often seen that the children of poor parents are forced to discontinuous
their studies in order to take up some poorly paid job to supplement the
family’s earnings. The second belief develops when people see even
educated people around themselves unemployed. Consequently, they feel
that sending children for education is a waste of time and money. The
result in both cases is that the poor people are forced to remain illiterates
owing to which they are unable to get out of this vicious circle and
poverty continues unchecked.

5. A factor somewhat related to the above is the attitude of those affected by

extreme poverty is to view their under-age children as additional hands to
supplement the family’s income. The net result of all this, however, is
that the additional income thus gain does not permit them relief from
poverty. It only helps them to meet their basic needs in a little better way.
For the nation, however, it means the addition of illiterate poor people.
Whatever economic progress is made through planning is nullified by the
increase in population and decline in economic level of the masses.

6. The constant degrading life due to poverty often forces these people to
adopt anti-social behavior in an attempt to become rich quickly. Thus
poverty becomes an important factor in increasing crime, delinquency,
vice and prostitution, all of which hamper social development by creating
disorder on society.

7. Gross inequalities in society between the rich and the poor lead to the
development of frustration and tensions which tend to hostility between
the “haves” and “have-nots”. Such feelings of bitterness can often be
seen in the form of strikes, lock-outs, labor disputes and riots. All of
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

which slow down from the rate of economic growth and keeping the
country economically backward.

8. Poverty, in many cases, leads to corruption and anti-social activities like

beggary, theft and fraud etc. which in turn, adversely affects nation’s
morality and administrative efficiency. People very often find that, eve
for getting that their ordinary requirements; they are forced to bribe the
concerned officials. Once corruption incomes widespread, it tends to
retard the country’s growth due to which it remains backward as is the
case of Pakistan where corruption has become the way of life.

Eliminating poverty

In politics, the fight against poverty is usually regarded as a social goal and
many governments have — secondarily at least — some dedicated
institutions or departments.

Rule of law and free markets

• Establish rule of law that protects trade and investments from banditry
and from risk of state seizure and excessive regulation.
• Reduce bureaucracy so that entrepreneurship does not require a
Byzantine authorization process and reduce or eliminate fees for
licensing new businesses.
• Keep business taxes and regulations low to encourage entrepreneurship.

Economic growth
• The anti-poverty strategy of the World Bank depends heavily on reducing
poverty through the promotion of economic growth. However, some
consider this approach does not actively or directly work to reduce or
eliminate poverty. The World Bank argues that an overview of many
studies how that:
o Growth is fundamental for poverty reduction, and in principle growth
as such does not seem to affect inequality.
o Growth accompanied by progressive distributional change is better
than growth alone.
o High initial income inequality is a brake on poverty reduction.
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

o Poverty itself is also likely to be a barrier for poverty reduction; and

wealth inequality seems to predict lower future growth rates.
• Research on the Index of Economic Freedom suggests that a set of
economic conditions which have been termed "economic freedom" help
increase growth and reduce poverty.
• Business groups see the reduction of barriers to the creation of new
businesses or reducing barriers for existing business, as having the effect
of bringing more people into the formal economy.

Direct aid
• The government can directly help those in need. This has been applied in
most Western societies during the 20th century in what became known as
the welfare state. Especially for those most at risk, such as the elderly and
people with disabilities. The help can be for example monetary or food
aid.
• Private charity. This is often formally encouraged within the legal
system. For example, charitable trusts and tax deductions for charity.

Improving the social environment and abilities of the poor

• Affordable housing development and urban regeneration.
• Affordable education
• Affordable health care
• Providing help in finding employment
• Subsidizing employment of groups that have difficulty finding work
otherwise
• Encouraging political participation and community organizing

Millennium Development Goals

Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 is a Millennium
Development Goal. In addition to broader approaches, the Sachs Report (for
the UN Millennium Project) proposes a series of "quick wins", approaches
identified by development experts which would cost relatively little but
could have a major constructive effect on world poverty. The quick wins are:
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

• Eliminating school fees.

• Providing soil nutrients to farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Free school meals for schoolchildren.
• Supporting breast-feeding.
• Deworming school children in affected areas.
• Training programmes for community health in rural areas.
• Providing mosquito nets.
• Ending user fees for basic health care in developing countries.
• Access to information on sexual and reproductive health.
• Drugs for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
• Upgrading slums, and providing land for public housing.
• Access to electricity, water and sanitation.
• Legislation for women’s rights, including rights to property.
• Action against domestic violence.
• Appointing government scientific advisors in every country.
• Planting trees.

The Borgen Project points out that while the U.S. government spends over
$230 billion dollars a year on military contracts, $40-$60 billion a year is
needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of ending severe
poverty by 2015.

Other approaches
Most developed nations send some aid to developing nations. Polls have
shown that, on average, Americans believe that 24% of the federal budget
goes to development assistance. In reality, less than 1% of the budget goes
to this.

Most developing countries have produced Poverty Reduction Strategy

papers or PRSPs Inequality can be reduced by progressive taxation, wealth
tax, and/or inheritance tax.

Some argue for a radical change of the economic system. There are several
proposals for a fundamental restructuring of existing economic relations, and
many of their supporters argue that their ideas would reduce or even
eliminate poverty entirely if they were implemented. Such proposals have
been put forward by both left-wing and right-wing groups: socialism,
 H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

communism, anarchism, libertarianism and participatory economics, among

others.

In law, there has been a movement to seek to establish the absence of

poverty as a human right.

In his book "The End of Poverty", world renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs
laid out a lucid plan to eradicate global poverty by the year 2025. Following
his doctrine, international organizations such as the Global Solidarity
Network are helping end poverty working with governments and partners to
help eradicate poverty worldwide with known, proven, reliable, and
appropriate interventions in the areas of housing, food, education, basic
health, agricultural inputs, safe drinking water, transportation and
communications.

Different Poverty reduction strategies in Pakistan

The development challenges for Pakistan include achieving high and sustained
broad-based economic growth particularly in rural areas; reducing poverty;
providing essential social and economic services and infrastructure to the poor;
creating job opportunities, and improving governance. Noticeable progress has
been achieved over the last five years. However, poverty reduction is still a
major challenge. The core elements of the strategy in the PRSP (Poverty
Reduction Strategy in Pakistan) are:
a) Accelerating economic growth while maintaining
macroeconomic stability
b) Improving governance
c) Investing in human capital
d) Targeting the poor and the vulnerable

The strategy recognizes that:

• For growth to reduce poverty, it must emanate from sectors that have
greater potential to generate employment.
 H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

• Since various forms of poverty in Pakistan are acute, these require

targeted policy interventions to provide quick relief through short-term
employment opportunities, social safety nets and financial assistance.
• Additional income alone would not eliminate poverty unless the
causes of poverty are addressed. Hence the need to improve access to basic
needs such as primary education, primary health care, drinking water, access
to justice, in order to win the fight against poverty.
• Improvement in public service delivery and governance and increase
in resources is needed.
• Involvement of the poor in the formulation of these policies and
management of their affairs is critical in attaining the objectives of the
strategy, and there is need to forge a broad-based alliance with civil society
and the private sector in this regard.
• There is need for a strong program for monitoring and capacity
development, as well as impact assessment.
• Availability of adequate resources for poverty reduction programs is
important in determining the effectiveness of the strategy. Detailed costing
of proposed initiatives is expected to take some time as it involves
comprehensive exercise at the district, provincial and federal levels.
The growth strategy proposed in the PRSP has a strong labor bias focusing
on rapid growth in agriculture, small and medium enterprises, housing and
construction, information technology (IT) and telecommunication sectors
and exports, all of which have strong potential to create jobs and associated
self employment opportunities. The strategy emphasizes continuity in
opening up of the economy through stable set of macroeconomic policies in
the areas of privatization, trade liberalization, banking and financial sector,
labor markets, regulatory environment to take advantage of opportunities
unleashed by evolving global trade regime while pursuing technological
transformation in agricultural and industrial sectors to face the challenges of
competitive international environment. It reinforces the need for improved
access to social services, broad-based governance reforms, and access to
assets through micro-credit, gender equality, targeted interventions, private
sector development and its participation in all sectors of the economy, and
efficient judicial system.
The impact of full PRSP outputs will provide increased security against
macroeconomic instability, increased per capita income, improved
coordination and financing of investment programs within the social sectors
so as to provide adequate coverage of the basic social service needs of the
people. Further, improved access to social amenities and sources of
economic empowerment will be pursued through improvements in public
sector enterprises' management, expansion of infrastructure, and provision of
social safety nets. The economic activity envisaged will provide an
opportunity for increased revenue mobilization and release of more
resources for investment. The strengthening of monitoring and evaluation
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

capacity at all levels of the government will facilitate tracking of budgetary

and non-budgetary expenditures as well as progress and impact monitoring.
The proposed strategy also focuses on attainment of Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) for sustainable development and poverty
reduction. For this purpose, the strategy aims at forging an alliance with civil
society and private sector to reduce poverty and accelerate growth. The
PRSP includes strategy to address issues of gender, employment, and the
nexus of environment with poverty. Vital elements of the PRSP include
devolution program, human development and rural development strategy.
Pakistan intends to initiate second-generation reforms in some of the key
areas such as financial sector, capital markets, etc. The deepening of reforms
in the power sector will continue over the medium term.
The Government believes that it carries the primary responsibility for
improving the standard of living of its people. The Government also
recognizes that the external assistance is a supplement to domestic
resources, not a substitute, and that it must endeavor to increase the latter.
The Government has made substantial progress in mobilizing its own
resources but the magnitude of the resources needed to achieve Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) is such that the support of development
partners is essential. The PRSP recognizes that economic growth has to be
the center of our attention as the most effective and sustainable means of
reducing poverty. However, sustainable growth itself is largely a function of
investing in programs that are truly home grown, based on the country's own
capacity and priorities. Ownership is the key and can be assured in several
ways. Firstly, it is critical that donors' support is built around genuinely
home grown PRSPs and development strategies. Secondly, it is essential that
the quality of aid is scaled up and micro management and transaction costs
be reduced. In this context, we do realize that monitoring is a crucial aspect
of results based development and welcome the focus on this critical issue.
Nonetheless, monitoring should not become an end in itself. The real issue is
implementing remedial measures and the reinforcement of accountability for
results. The design of the monitoring framework should be country specific,
consistent with the capacity, and fully harmonized amongst donors.
Pakistan seeks to draw the focus of the development partners on the
unsustainable debt burden of the non-HIPC countries that have credible
macroeconomic and structural reform programs but are unable, because of
their debt overhang, to raise resources to finance human development and
badly needed infrastructure. Debt relief, write-offs or swaps will give
Pakistan the required fiscal space. Pakistan also seeks a level playing field
with open access to markets, as it firmly believes that it will be trade and not
aid, which will ensure sustainable reduction in poverty. In particular, there is
need to address the issue of agricultural subsidies in the developed world to
facilitate developing countries to achieve agricultural growth and higher
market share.
The full PRSP addresses important gaps in the poverty reduction strategy
identified in the IPRSP. The PRSP now articulates a more comprehensive
strategy including policies for rural development, gender issues,
employment and the environment. In addition, the full PRSP now includes a
more focused human development strategy. The PRSP utilizes a fiscal
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

framework which takes into account mechanisms for transfer of resources

and responsibilities from the federal to the provincial and then to the district
governments, as well as preliminary costing of programs to achieve targets
especially in the education and a credible monitoring framework in
particular for tracking intermediate indicators in the social sectors and anti-
poverty programs.
Pakistan now has three tiers of fully functional governments, national,
provincial, and district and their respective roles are defined in the 1973
Constitution and Local Government Ordinance 2001. All the three tiers have
given primary importance to reducing poverty. In order to pool poverty
reduction efforts at all three levels of government, national, provincial and
districts, have contributed towards the formulation of the PRSP, which in
turn have provided the basis of the full PRSP. There is an ensuing debate
over devising the most effective mechanism to transmit policy priorities
from higher-level governments to the lower level. In the meantime,
harmonization in priorities is being resolved through the evolving
relationship between three tiers of government.
The provincial governments are in full agreement to adopt a structured
framework to plan and implement reforms in consultation with the local
governments, provincial line departments, civil society, and other
stakeholders. They have already completed the consultative process and
their draft PRSPs are ready for approval by their respective governments
except Punjab, which has already approved by the Chief Minister.
Baluchistan has also finalized its PRSP. Clearly, this will facilitate a broad
linkage between national priorities and provincial policies as well as
implementation at district level.
The full PRSP is a comprehensive policy document that translates the
government's vision and strategy into concrete programs with a well-defined
road map to achieve both economic growth and poverty reduction
objectives. It develops linkages between the macroeconomic framework,
structural adjustment, and sector development policies, and measures to
support targeted segments of the poor to ensure sustainable development. In
Short, the full PRSP is a living document based on six principles with in-
built mechanism for adjustment overtime:
(i) It is home grown, involving broad based participation by key
stakeholders.
(ii) It is result oriented, focusing on monitor able outcomes that benefit
the poor.
(iii) It is comprehensive, recognizing the multidimensional nature of
poverty.
(iv) It is prioritized, so implementation is feasible in both fiscal and
institutional terms.
(v) It is oriented to build public-private partnership; it is aligned with
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

Both the process and content of the PRSP are viewed as dynamic in nature.
The Ministry of Finance took the lead in the formulation of PRSP in
collaboration with the line ministries, provincial and local governments.
This process included wide ranging consultations with stakeholders,
Parliamentarians, civil society, non-governmental organizations, and donors
at various workshops and community dialogues. This brought about greater
awareness of the PRSP, which will facilitate its implementation. Looking
ahead, PRSP will need strengthening the mechanism and corresponding
capacity building for periodical updating to reconcile it with emerging socio-
economic realities, impact analysis of policy choices, evaluation of poverty
reduction strategies, macro- economic targets, linkages between policies and
poverty outcomes, and improvements in the service delivery, as new data
from various surveys ands sources become available.
Towards these goals, the PRSP is being supported with a strong
participatory monitoring program as well as capacity building at each level
of government. The Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ)
survey will provide data for intermediate indicators in social sectors at the
district level to determine the baselines. Subsequently, annual updates will
be used for evaluation and impact assessment of poverty reduction
expenditures. The surveys will also evaluate the efficiency of public service
delivery systems, which will contribute towards the adjustment of policy
interventions to achieve target outcomes. The CWIQ or any other survey
except PIHS/HIES will not be used or recognized for poverty measurement
in the country. Social sector targets have been explicitly indicated in the
PRSP. Investment programs will be more specifically formulated as soon as
the costing of education, health and population programs becomes available.

The Government clearly recognizes that there are some risks and challenges
in implementing the PRSP. First, the effective implementation of the reform
agenda will require political commitment and pro-active collaboration
among many ministries and departments. To monitor and evaluate the
performance when there are gaps in available information, will require
developing a reliable and comprehensive database that is periodically
updated, for monitoring and evaluation of PRSP process is a multi year
undertaking. Second, capacity building will need to be addressed quickly at
the provincial and local government levels since both levels of government
are new to the PRSP approach and suffer from capacity constraints in certain
areas. Third, there is need to ensure consistency between the priorities of
three tiers of governments: Federal, provincial, and district. The mechanism
needs to be strengthened to transmit the priorities of the higher level of
governments to district governments. Fourth, the risk of waning interest of
Pakistan's international development partners in the country's development
process could jeopardize the significant progress made over the last three
and half years. The daunting challenge is to translate structural reforms and
stable macroeconomic framework into broad based economic growth. On
the whole, the success of the PRSP will depend critically on the effective
implementation, continuous evaluation of the impact and regular feedback to
policy makers for appropriate adjustment in the policies and institutional
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

regime, enhanced market access in the global markets, debt relief, and
concession lending to achieve the output objectives of the program.

STEPS TO REMOVE POVERTY

If poverty has to remove from the country, the following steps are necessary:

1. Realizing the magnitude of the country’s problems, the Govt. should

embark on the need oriented planning in order to make most judicious
use of the existing as well as undeveloped resources to bring about
speedier development. Instead of putting emphases on the prestige
projects like motorways and airport terminals which are a drain on
natural resources, crash programs of rural works for the masses
especially rural unemployed should be taken. Some other large scale
relief works be taken for the able bodied unemployed and the under
nourished.
2. At the same time a nation wide program of community development
should be initiated in order to bring out a reform in the updated methods
of cultivation, supply of better seeds and fertilizers, and the proper
method of storage.
3. Regional planning is needed to insure relatively backward areas be
helped to develop and contribute to the nation economy instead of
remaining a burden.
4. Revival of sick industries and anticipation of agro based industrial
projects in order to provide employment to additional population and
provide scientific farming.
5. Encouraging small scale cottage industry in both rural and urban areas
by providing not only loans on easy terms but also providing the
necessary technical know how for the same.
6. Establishment of vocational tanning centers specially in backward areas
so that the residents took benefit from them and subsequently find
gainful employment.
7. Having fully recognized the fact that the gains of planning and higher
national income will be nullified by increased population, the Govt. has
to work seriously in bringing down its population growth rate which is
slightly under 3%. A high rate of demographic growth naturally wipes
out what ever little progress made in reducing poverty.
8. Also serious effort should be made to improve overall economy. This
will provide not only economic opportunity to people but also help keep
the inflation rate in check, thereby providing relief to the small income
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

people. All this can happen if there is a sustained commitment and

sincerity of purpose on the part of the Govt. to see that projects relating
to the poverty reduction are properly implemented. Only and only then
Pakistan can hope finally to start winning its war against poverty.
9. It goes without saying that only by providing free and compulsory
education at least up to primary level in both rural and urban areas, the
people will be able to get better employment opportunities for
themselves and improve there living condition. However a critical
element is missing. The critical element is substantive agrarian reforms:
land re-distribution, tenancy reform, and labor protections. It is a pre-
condition to Pakistan rural poor ever emerging from poverty. This is so
because land distribution transforms their material conditions by
providing them with a productive asset, at the same time emancipating
them socially and politically. Only then they can benefit from
democracy, from greater public investment in education or health, or
from economic growth.

Proper Use of Zakat(For Self employment):

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan is an Islamic country majority
of the peoples are Muslims. Islam’s zakat system can play an important
and decisive role in eliminating poverty from the country. Billions of
rupees are collected / deducted as zakat. Proper utilization of this money
can very effectively reduce poverty. Unfortunately improper use
/distribution of zakat is creating more and more idle persons instead of
creating useful and productive peoples for the society. In present zakat
distribution system small money is being provided to Poor’s. which makes
people dependents and peoples become habitual to get this money and do
nothing.

In my opinion a handsome amount should be distributed in a group of

peoples for self employment and they should be directed and guided to
start any business with this money, the names of recipients of this zakat
should be removed from the list of peoples entitled for zakat. Further a
portion of zakat fund may be used for providing technical education as
unemployed persons after getting technical education can earn themselves.
H. Waqar Akhtar( waqar7618@live.com) Strategy for poverty Alleviation

Conclusion

Also serious effort should be made to improve overall economy. This will
provide not only economic opportunity to people but also help keep the
inflation rate in check, thereby providing relief to the small income people.
All this can happen if there is a sustained commitment and sincerity of
purpose on the part of the Govt. to see that projects relating to the poverty
reduction are properly implemented. Only and only then Pakistan can hope
finally to start winning its war against poverty.