Basic Needs or Major Problems??

Pakistan; the second largest Islamic populated country of the world, is a developing country, trying hard for the betterment for its people. With four provinces: Balochistan; Khaber Pakhtoonkhwa; Sindh & Punjab; it is striving to fulfill the needs of all these separate areas, but the general needs of all are the basic ones. The major problems of Pakistan are Poverty and Education. In addition to this Power cut-down is increasing & people are bound to live under poverty line. All these issues are inter-linked. Improvement in education can reduce poverty and then the food and shelter needs can be met accordingly.

The Government of Pakistan is trying to overcome these issues with the help of international support. USAID is working in the Health sector while ADB is running programmes to reduce Poverty. Many Pakistani organizations are also operational in these areas. A brief introduction of the major problems of Pakistan is as follows;

Poverty:

Pakistan is a semi industrial and agricultural territory. Most of the population of it is living in rural areas. More than 50 percent of the whole population is living under the poverty line with daily income of less than US$ 1.25. The population is growing day by day but on the contrary the economic opportunities are lessening resulting in increasing poverty instead of reduction. The poor are becoming poorer and rich richer. The middle class which is considered the backbone of a country is diminishing slowly which is not a good sign.

The solution to this problem is giving prospects to the unemployed class without discrimination. The Govt. of Pakistan is working in this particular area by providing internships to the freshly graduates to gain experience for their career growth. But the government cannot deal with this crisis on its own so that is why different non-governmental organizations are also helping people regarding this issue. For example Fiza Social Welfare Organization is building houses for the poor and the local poor unemployed persons are involved in the process to provide them with economic prospects. Other organizations are also trying to beat this dilemma. Linked to poverty is the problem of Education, which should be given full attention.

Education:

Education and poverty are inter-linked, if the education mounts up, poverty will automatically starts decreasing. The total Adult Literacy Rate in Pakistan is 54% (Male 66.25%, Female 41.75%) – (Pakistan’s Ministry Of Education). The main problem is placed in the rural areas where there are very few schools and if there are any, teachers are not available, because of the unavailability of life’s basic needs there, and no teacher goes there. This results in the raise of poverty. The Government of Pakistan is opening free schools for the poor in the most unprivileged areas. The Prime Minister of Pakistan said,  “Literacy, for sure, is the lifeline of any developed country and there is, thus, no denial to the fact that it alone is pivotal to human progress, most important key to development, and so vital for poverty alleviation.”

Fiza Social Welfare Organization has opened a school in a village of Multan for the poor children and the thing that distinguishes it from the other schools is that besides the regular studies it trains children with different skills. We have more land and with donations we can build more schools like that.

 I believe if these two problems and basic needs are fulfilled Pakistan will turn out to be a better and a prosperous counrty.

Akleema Zaineb

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