15 April 2005	Friday	04 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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ISLAMABAD, April 14: Poverty in Pakistan has increased from 23 per cent in 1987-88 to 33 per cent in 2001-02 due to failure of the economic growth to trickle down to the gross roots level, shows the latest report of the Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC). The report “Social Development in Pakistan; Annual Review 2004” was distributed at a workshop on “Poverty Alleviation in Pakistan” organised by the SPDC and the European Commission (EC) here on Thursday.

In his welcome address, the EC ambassador, Ilkka Uusitalo, also talked about the ongoing debate and controversy on poverty and population data and statistics of the Government of Pakistan.

Mr Uusitalo said it was in the best interest of Pakistan to come up with credible and reliable statistics as per international standards and make them easily available to all the interested people so that they might know the ground realities related to poverty alleviation.

The SPDC report said rural poverty rose by 2.3 per cent annually from 26 per cent to 35 per cent, while urban poverty grew more rapidly by 3.6 per cent annually from 19 per cent to 30 per cent over a period of a decade and a half.

According to the report, overall and rural poverty is the lowest in Punjab (26 and 24 per cent respectively) and the highest in Balochistan (48 and 51 per cent respectively). On average, the incidence of poverty in Balochistan is about twice as compared to that of Punjab.

The review shows that the incidence of overall as well as rural poverty in NWFP is lower (29 and 27 per cent respectively) than in Sindh (31 and 38 per cent respectively).

It says the incidence of urban poverty is higher in Punjab and NWFP, but the reverse is the case in Sindh and Balochistan. The difference between overall and rural poverty is significant in case of Sindh and is explained by the dual nature of the province’s economy, i.e. a vast gulf between Karachi and the rest of the Sindh.

Among the provincial capitals, the incidence of poverty is the highest in Peshawar (28 per cent) and the lowest in Karachi (10 per cent). The poverty level of other citizens and towns is similar among the provinces, at over one-fifth in case of larger cities and over two-fifths in case of smaller cities and towns, the report showed.

Analysing poverty sector and occupation wise, the report revealed that relatively higher incidence of poverty existed in agriculture (33 per cent) as against about 28 per cent in non- agriculture sectors.

Inter-provincially, however, Punjab and NWFP report the highest incidence of poverty in mining and manufacturing (30 and 45 per cent respectively) mainly due to informal employment, arrangements, significantly low wages, poor working conditions, and absence of social protection for the workers.

In terms of occupation, the highest ratio of poverty (55 per cent) is observed among sharecroppers as compared to 19 per cent in case of own cultivators. Inter-provincially, poverty is significantly higher in Balochistan (87 per cent) and 60 per cent in Sindh as compared to less than 50 per cent each in Punjab and NWFP.

Similarly, 47 per cent of the own cultivators in Balochistan and 25 per cent in Sindh are living below the poverty line as compared to 15 per cent in Punjab and NWFP.

According to the report, in the non-agriculture sectors about 30 per cent of self-employed and wage employed are living below the poverty line. By contrast, only 18 per cent of the employers are poor. The incidence of poverty among employers is as low as 11 per cent in NWFP and as high as 29 per cent in Balochistan.

Poverty among the self-employed and wage-employed in Sindh is relatively lower (27 per cent) ostensibly on account of higher earnings/wages in Karachi.

The report reveals that overall rural poverty for households with and without land stands at 18 and 30 per cent respectively in the country. House owners exhibit lower poverty than non- owners, except in Sindh and Balochistan.

The report said in Sindh, there were large concentrations of low income population in katchi abadis where de facto ownership prevails, while many parts of Balochistan were characterised by communal ownership.