Background: Pakistan is a country with 162 millions of population with predominant Muslim population comprising 97 % of the total population. The Christians form 1.7 and Hindus make up 1.5 % of the total population. The Sikhs, Zoroastrians are small communities living in Pakistan. Pakistan, since its independence in 1947, has seen political instability and most of the years after independence the army ruled over the country. In fact Political instability is the only stable thing in Pakistan. The army rulers did not let the democratic culture and political consciousness grow which eventually hindered the path of peoples’ participation in planning and decision making. The first constitution of the country was produced after eight years of independence in the year 1956 after the Objectives Resolution was passed in the 1949 which declared country as Islamic state. Though the five years plans for the development of the country have been regularly announced but due to rapid changes in the governments or changing priorities of the ruling persons the five years development plans did not bring any results. The annual per capita expenditure on human priority areas of basic education, primary health care, family planning, safe drinking water, and nutritional programs is just $3 in Pakistan. In Pakistan, soldiers outnumber doctors by 10 to 1. The Human Development Index shows Pakistan at 127th position, the life expectancy at birth is 59.6 %, adult literacy rate is 45 % and Pakistan stands at 117th position regarding Gender related Development Index. Who are most vulnerable?
The economists and social scientists in
Pakistan agree with consensus that the most vulnerable sections of society
are They stand at the bottom getting least share from the resources. The United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty states that, “eradicating poverty is an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind.” Talking from the Pakistani context, we have least thought of the total development of the above mentioned four sections of society. The women still suffer the discriminatory laws like Hadood Ordinance, Law of Evidence and are under constant threat to minimize their even mobility under the Islamic laws. They live as “subordinates” of the men who only live to please the male dominated society in every manner. The women living in both the urban and rural areas do not enjoy any power sharing nor do they have access to the basic needs of life. Children are even worst as they can not speak for their rights and those who are supposed to speak for their rights have most of the time no clear idea on children’s rights, development and the right to live a dignified life. According to UNICEF Report 13 million children who are in the age of going to school have no access to primary education and among them 70 % are girl children. There are total 27 million who are in the age of going to school.
The workers in the formal and informal sectors suffer from the unhealthy working conditions as the laws regarding labour rights do not support the workers rather the industrialist and employer. The total labour force of Pakistan is comprised of approximately 37.15 million people, with 47% within the agriculture sector, 10.50% in the manufacturing & mining sector and remaining 42.50% in various other professions. Though the constitution of Pakistan prohibits every kind of slavery, bonded and forced labour in its article 11 but still the worst forms of bonded labor and slavery remains a big issue especially in brick kiln and agriculture sectors. The theme of workers rights has never been taken seriously by the policy makers as they do not represent the workers. The main features of workers rights situation is as follows. The Industrial Relations Ordinance of 1969 (IRO) enunciates the right of industrial workers to form trade unions but is subject to major restrictions in some employment areas. In practice, labor laws place significant constraints on the formation of industrial unions and their ability to function effectively. The Essential Services Maintenance Act of 1952 restricts normal union activities in sectors associated with "the administration of the state," e.g. government services and some public utilities, but the government has reduced its application. The right of industrial workers to organize and freely elect representatives to act as collective bargaining agents is established in law. However, the many restrictions on forming unions preclude collective bargaining by large sections of the labor force, e.g. agricultural workers, who are not guaranteed the right to strike, bargain collectively, or make demands on employers. Illegal bonded labor is widespread. Bonded labor is common in the brick, glass, and fishing industries and is found among agricultural and construction workers in rural areas. Conservative estimates put the figure of bonded workers at several million. The Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act, adopted in 1992, outlawed bonded labor, canceled all existing bonded debts, and forbade lawsuits for the recovery of existing debts. However, the provincial governments, which are responsible for enforcing the law, have failed to establish enforcement mechanisms, and the law is largely ineffective. The law provides for a monthly minimum wage of about 42 dollars (Pak Rs 2,510 ), a maximum workweek of 54 hours, rest periods during the workday, and paid annual holidays. Although this wage provides a meager subsistence living for a small family, minimum wage benefits and other regulations affect only a small part of the work force, and most families are large. In general, health and safety standards are poor. The religious minorities in Pakistan face discriminatory laws which not only restrict them in the social and economic development process but also claim their lives. Along with the state sponsored discrimination the social attitudes and behaviors are very discriminatory for the tiny population of Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Ahmedies. The articles 295 A, B and C and 298 A of Pakistan Penal Code is like a sword on the heads of the minorities and also for the liberal minded Pakistanis. These laws book any one for jail even claim death sentence as mandatory for any blasphemous word, action or expression against Prophet Mohammad and Quran. After 9/11 incident total 13 Christian churches and institutions have been attacked. The attacks are the attempt of the extremists groups to take revenge from USA for its policy against terrorism. More than 45 people have been killed and over 80 injured in these incidents. According to the data collected by human rights organizations, 647 people have been charged with blasphemy since 1988. Of theses 647, about 50 percent were Muslims, 37 percent Ahmadies, 13 percent Christians and one percent Hindus and 22, accused in blasphemy, have been killed during this period. The complainants in all the cases are Muslims. The nature of poverty in Pakistan is characterized by the common symptoms
Violence What is government doing?
The
Government of Pakistan has undertaken a number of initiatives to address
poverty over recent years. It constituted a Task Force on Poverty
Eradication in 1997 and established a Working Group on Poverty Alleviation
in 1998 to contribute to the 9th Five Year Plan. Experiences: 1) In the last one decade, empowerment has emerged as the major mode/example of development. But the NGO's take it in the narrow sense. Just like in spite of two decades of work on gender issues, many still equate gender with women. There is a need for learning about the art of facilitating empowerment and linking it with the economy of the poor, as well the nation. 2) If development in its wider sense is to benefit the people truly then the political structure must be responsive to their needs and aspirations as well as protect their rights and property. Support to development activities must not be limited by our own sectoral thinking and budgetary code systems. We must follow where the people lead. A transformation or change in one sector cannot be achieved without simultaneous changes in other sectors. 3) Integration is required between action and reflection for development. When one talks about integration, one should carefully examine that especially the development workers/ practitioners are just using the term integration or integrating the things at all levels. 4) If we talk about real development process it should be based on action and reflection approach. 5) Community organizing process should not be limited to animation and awareness. Rather it should be a balanced combination of animation plus service delivery in a participatory manner. Challenges: 1) More than 12 million people have been added to poverty graph between 1993-99, which is a major socio-economic problem. Poverty is high with over a third of the population in Pakistan estimated to be living below the poverty line. 2) Politics in Pakistan is religion based. Many articles and clauses mentioned in the constitution of Pakistan are justified on the basis of religion (Islam).Most recently HASBA BILL approved by NWFP Assembly is a religion coated implications. In fact politics and religion are two different aspects of life. According to constitution of Pakistan no non-Muslim citizen of Pakistan can become Prime Minister or President of Pakistan. Although the current government seems to be supportive for religious minorities and rights of the minorities are guaranteed in the constitution of Pakistan but the real challenge in this environment is practical enforcement of what has been guaranteed in the constitution and protection of religious minorities from fundamentalists (Refer to Shantinagar and Sangla Hill case) 3) Networking mechanism at national/grass root level is very weak. A good networking of all the concerned stakeholders can double the strength and speed up the work and plans formulated and being implemented for poverty eradication. 4) Advocacy and Lobby to influence power structures for bringing change. Finally and most importantly, Regional cooperation is no longer a matter of choice for Pakisatan. At a time when countries throughout the world are regrouping on the basis of economic blocs, Pakistan can ill afford to remain immobilised in political discord. In fact, the potential for co-operation between the SAARC nations is enormous. The region has a potential market of 1.2 billion consumers; the largest middle class in the world, hard working low wage labour and tremendous potential to unleash the creative energies of chained economies. References:
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