KARACHI, Dec 11: Speakers at a seminar on Thursday stressed the need for increasing literacy in the country, and demanded of the government to intensify efforts for provision of basic education, health and accessibility to clean water and food to the people.

They said the number of people living below poverty line was on the rise in the country and currently over 30 per cent people were earning meagre sums of money, 80 per cent of whom were women.

The seminar on “Poverty in Pakistan and Reduction Strategies” was organized by the All Pakistan Trade Union Congress, in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), at a local hotel.

Delivering the keynote address, Sindh Minister for Social Welfare and Women

Development Dr Saeeda Malik said despite doing their best, governments could not alleviate poverty without the help of NGOs.

She lauded the holding of seminar and said if people were made aware of their issues and problems, they also tried to solve these through combined efforts.

Terming illiteracy the root-cause of poverty among women, she lamented that majority of the Pakistani women were still uneducated, and added that without education no nation could improve its financial conditions.

Earlier, Shaukat Ali, Secretary-General, All Pakistan Trade Union Congress, in his speech said the existence of widespread poverty in the midst of global prosperity was undeniably the most serious challenge confronting the world today.

Among others, Prof Shafee Malik, SP Lodhi, Obaidur Rehman, Fasihul Karim Usmani, and Chief Economist of Sindh government, Abdul Ghaffar Pirzada, also spoke on the occasion.—PPI