Poverty eradication: a major challenge for socio-economic development, crimes free society
PESHAWAR : Inspite of an enormous natural resources and climate diversity, Pakistan having a population of over 220 million with a stagnant 1.9pc annual growth rate, was confronted to the monster challenges of rising poverty and inflation due to recent devastated floods and COVID-19 pandemic.
The August-September 2022 record- breaking floods and COVID-19 had severely jolted the country’s economy, social, educational, health, communication, energy, irrigation and agriculture sectors, resulting an upward increase in the national poverty rate, price-hike and inflation affecting common man.
Muhammad Naeem, Assistant Professor Ecnomics Department, University of Swabi while citing a report of the World Bank said that about six to nine million Pakistanis were likely to be dragged into poverty as a result of recent monsoon flooding that killed around 1,700 people including women and children, destroyed over two million houses and displaced eight million people besides inflicting around USD 40billion economic losses and put a third of the nation underwater.
He said the poverty rate was expected to rise between 2.5 and four percentage points as a direct consequence of floods, which caused loss of jobs, livestock, agriculture’s harvests, houses, spread of waterborne diseases and increase in food costs in the country where inflation was likely to stand at 23pc during financial year 2023.
He said about 20pc people were reportedly living below the poverty line in the country mostly in the underdeveloped districts including merged areas.
In the prevailing shabby economic situation, he said “we need to make a cut on an unnecessary expenditures, devolopment budget and import bill on luxury goods to tackle poverty, price hike and inflation.
Dr Naeem said focus should be made to promote technical and vocational education in those districts where poverty ratio was high especially in the merged tribal districts.
Former Provincial Minister, Wajid Ali Khan said that poverty leads to criminal activities such as robbery, theft, kidnapping for ransom and murder. Besides malnutrition and illiteracy, poverty also gives rise to the issue of overpopulation, corruption and delay in justice.
The ANP leader linked increase in poverty and inflation to the poor economic and financial policies of the previous PTI government and foreign loans burden.
He said an absence of quality research, outdated and conventional teaching methods and the divide between teachers’ tenure track and basic pay scale were adversely affecting the quality of education in KP.
“The PTI government needs to focus on sustainability and economic empowerment of existing universities, technical colleges and avoid opening new universities for political point scoring,” he maintained.
He suggested establishment of campuses of different universities instead of separate universities of medical, engineering, agriculture, law etc to save the financial resources of KP that was already facing great financial problems.
Wajid said internationally many renowned universities have established their schools of medicine, engineering, business, and other disciplines under one roof to combat poverty and illiteracy through better economic management and good governance.
Ikhtiar Wali Khan, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz KP spokesman and Member Provincial Assembly said the federal government was focusing on the uplift of less developed districts of the country through an effective utilization of financial resources to eradicate poverty.
He said the federal government’s allocation of Rs40 billion as umbrella fund for marginalized and vulnerable population would help ensure sufficient domestic financing commitments for achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Wali claimed that Imran Khan government had overlooked the economy and took heavy foreign loans on high interest rates due to his poor governance that resulted rise in poverty and inflation in the country’s today.
Muhammad Islam Khan, Senior Planning Officer, Higher Education Department told APP that approximately, Rs20 billion development projects were in progress in merged tribal areas under the accelerated implementation program (AIP 2019-23) by the government focusing on all key sectors including education, health, infrastructure and agriculture in a bid to allievate poverty.
The gigantic projects include establishment of 12 new colleges, rehabilitation, provision of missing facilities to existing colleges, commencement of BS programme, scholarships to students, solarization of colleges and educational institutes, recruitment of teaching faculty and provision of transport facility to facilitate students especially girls in erstwhile Fata.
Besides construction of 12 new colleges, five government degree colleges for girls were being established in merged areas where classes in the newly established government degree colleges for boys at Bara and Landi Kotal in Khyber tribal district and government boys degree college at Penk in former Frontier Region Tank has also been started.
Out of these 12 new colleges, he said four colleges were being established in Bajaur, two in Khyber, one each in Kurram and Bakakhel (former FR Bannu), three each in North Waziristan and South Waziristan.
He said one each library was being established in Khyber, Mohmand, Bajaur, Kurram, Orakzai, North Waziristan and South Waziristan.
Besides strengthening Fata University near Dara Adamkhel, he said the Government has decided to establish Bajaur University at Khar with an estimated cost of Rs one billion under AIP. He said Bajaur University would help save time and money of tribal students who mostly come to Peshawar for higher education.
Islam Khan said that 10 new colleges were completed in merged areas raising its total number to 55, adding 300 new lecturers and subject specialists were recruited for 45 colleges in tribal districts.
To address challenges of poverty, energy shortfall and improve literacy rate, he said work on solarization of colleges costing Rs1.6 billion has been started in erstwhile Fata. New vehicles were recently provided to the principals of 45 colleges including 24 boys, 15 girls and six commerce colleges of merged areas to provide pick and drop to all students.
The government would spend Rs1.18 on the transport project that would benefit around 25,000 tribal students. Similarly, 10 more transport vehicles and buses would be provided to the newly established colleges.
Medical colleges and Engineering universities are planned in all merged districts while work on an Education City in South Waziristan is underway. The government has also planned to establish the campus of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University (SBBWU) in tribal areas to provide quality education to girls students at their doorsteps.
To encourage talented tribal students to continue their studies without facing financial constraints, Rs. 1.399 billion were earmarked to provide 5,500 internships to the tribal students.
These education projects on completion would not only decrease poverty rate in merged areas but jobs opportunities would also be created for youth in the country and abroad.(APP)
