KARACHI: Govt claims of economic progress lies: seminar
KARACHI, May 29: The tall claims of economic recovery are white lies, and according to a report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Pakistan was ranked 142nd amongst 175 countries of the world in terms of poverty. This was stated by speakers at a seminar on ‘Budget and Working Class’, organized by the Joint Left Front (JLF) at the PMA House on Sunday.
The seminar headed by the President, Labour Party Pakistan, Shoaib Bhatti, was also addressed by Dr Jaffar Ahmed, Najmul Hassan Atta, Comrade Ghani, Comrade Mansoor Saeed and Umar Baloch.
They said it was a tragedy of the present government that on one hand it had created massive poverty, price hike and joblessness, and on the other hand it was beating the drums of economic success and progress, which were all white lies. They said that according to the report of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), 44 per cent population of Pakistan was living beneath the poverty line, while 78 per cent was living in semi-poverty.
They average life expectancy in Pakistan was 62 years against an average life expectancy of 67 years in the sub-continent was 67 years.
While the child mortality rate was 76 out of 1,000, and 40 per cent children died or were rendered handicapped by diseases before reaching the age of five.
According to the UNDP report, Pakistan was among the top 10 poorest countries, while eight other members were African countries, they said.
The speakers said that despite tall claims of the government less than two per cent of the GDP was being spent on education and health. The number of jobless persons was 240 million, while 180 million children were engaged in child labour.
They said the human rights situation was also in a shambles and 16,000 women had been murdered during the last five years.
They said the government was claiming that its kitty was full with $13 billion, while thousands of people were forced to commit suicides to poverty.
They said that during the period of the ‘Musharraf government’, price hike and poverty had touched new heights.
They said the price of wheat flour had jumped from Rs8 to Rs16 per kg, sugar price from Rs18 to Rs28, milk from Rs20 to Rs28 per litre, petrol from Rs23 to Rs46, and diesel from Rs10 to Rs29. They said the same was the situation of the prices of pulses, vegetables and meat, while public transport fares had witnessed a 100 per cent rise. They said the rates of electricity and Sui gas were also on the rise. The railway fares were raised by 8.6 percent.
The speakers said that due to higher cost of inputs, the agriculture sector was facing the worst crisis, and inflation rate of agricultural produce was 13.6 per cent.
They said that in July 2003-04, the purchasing power of Rs1,000 was reduced to just Rs700.
They said the current rate of inflation was the highest in the last 10 years, and it was feared that it might cross the limit of 14 per cent till the yearend.
The speakers said that according to a report of the government, the turnover of bribes in the country was Rs600 billion per year.
They said the defence sector and foreign loans devoured major portion of the budget.
They said the trade deficit this year was around $15 billion.
They said that due to economic mismanagement of the rulers, the economic burden on the people would further rise this year.
They said that through a conspiracy, 30 per cent investment in the Karachi Stock Exchange went down the drain, hitting the small investors hard.
They suggested that to save the national economy, all foreign loans should be confiscated, a 50 per cent cut introduced in the defence spending, and agricultural reforms be introduced.
They also suggested that the bribes of Rs600 billion per year should be ended so that poverty, joblessness and illiteracy could be eliminated from the country.—PPI
