KARACHI: 50pc urban people living in kutchi abadies
KARACHI, Aug. 16: Millions of people are migrating annually from the countryside to major cities of Pakistan in search of better prospects and jobs, which is putting pressure on existing urban infrastructure and giving a rise to katchi abadis in the process, says a recently held economic survey.
The report estimates that the urban population living in kutchi abadis ranged between 35-50 per cent on all Pakistan basis.
According to the survey: “The poor in Pakistan were not only deprived of financial resources, but also lacked access to basic needs, such as education, health, clean drinking water and proper sanitation”.
These shortcomings undermined their capabilities, limited their ability to secure gainful employment and resulted in poverty and social discrimination.
The most commonly used measure of poverty was the Head Count Ratio (HCR), which was measured as a percentage of population whose income or consumption level was below poverty line.
It said based on the requirements of 2,150 calories, the government had adopted the official poverty line in 1998-99 as Rs650 per capita per month.
According to the survey, analysis of poverty by socio-economic groups focusing on key demographic and economic characteristics showed the following facts of poverty in Pakistan:
Poverty increased with the size of the household. Female headed approximately seven per cent of all households. Poverty incidence among this group was marginally higher than among male-headed households.
Households whose heads have no formal education have the highest poverty rate. The household head engaged in unskilled agriculture and services occupations were the poorest. While those employed in trade, social services and utilities were relatively less effected by poverty.
Incidence of rural poverty for those households, whose heads were farmers was lower than all other occupations except for those in professional, management or clerical positions.
The report said population growth of this magnitude in Pakistan undermined promising developments. It said during the last four decades, Pakistan had not experienced demographic transition. With slow-down in population growth, Pakistan may see its share of working-age population rise with a decline in the young age population.
Referring to income distribution and poverty, the survey said existence of widespread privatisation in the midst of global prosperity was the most serious challenge confronting the world today.
At the start of the 21st century, almost 1.2 billion people subsisted on less than $1 a day. It was also a fact that the gap between the rich and the poor had widened over the years.
The report said 80 per cent of global GDP of $30 trillion accrued to only 20 per cent of the world’s population living mostly in Western Hemisphere and the remaining 80 per cent of the people only have a 20 per cent share of the world riches.
The survey said poverty in Pakistan was largely a rural phenomenon where 32 per cent population lived below poverty line as against 19 per cent urban population in 1998-99.—PPI
