ISLAMABAD: There cannot be equality or equity in the country without land reforms, and lack of willingness is hindering the reforms.

This was stated by prominent economist Dr Kaiser Bengali here Thursday.

“We have created two Pakistans: there is a Pakistan of elite and the Pakistan of the people. While poverty creates misery, inequality causes anger, and these are the root-causes of militancy, terrorism and crime.”

Experts say poverty, inequality causing militancy, terrorism

Dr Bengali was speaking at the launch of ‘Even it up: time to end extreme inequality,’ an international report by Oxfam.

The report showed that the number of billionaires worldwide had more than doubled since the financial crisis. On the other hand, at least a million mothers have died in childbirth due to lack of basic health services during the same period.

The report said rising inequality could set back the fight against poverty by decades. It warned that in countries around the world, prosperity was not trickling down to the ordinary people but the exceptional wealth of those at the top was growing ever more rapidly.

“The richest 85 people, who have the same wealth as the poorest half of the world, saw their collective wealth increased by $668 million per day between 2013 and 2014,” the report said. “That is almost half a million dollars every minute, whereas an increasing number of people are pushed below the poverty line which shows the poor are not getting a fair deal.”

Regarding Pakistan, the report said for the poorest 20 per cent of families sending all children to low-fee-private-schools would cost approximately 127 per cent of each household’s income.

The two powerful driving forces gearing a rapid rise in inequality in many countries were uncontrolled markets and elites’ capture on politics.

Oxfam country director Arif Jabbar Khan, said in Pakistan the richest 20 per cent captured nearly 45 per cent of monthly income whilst the bottom 20 per cent took home just eight per cent.

Dr Kaiser Bengali criticised the rising economic disparity in the country and warned that the whole society was at risk if a large section of it fell below the poverty line.

“This neo-liberalism of the 1980s has now reached a point that societies are at the brink of collapse.”

This is a wrong notion that the state has nothing to do with education, healthcare, welfare or taking care of poor etc., and all this has to be in the private hands.

He criticised the society and said: “We are immoral not because any woman is not covering her head but because patients die at the gates of hospitals because they do not have the money to pay the medical bill.” However, he added, we need equity that is fairness.

He said poverty and inequality were directly related with macro-economic policies that was to do with the federal government while the land reforms were a provincial agenda.

He also said the governance was a serious issue with provinces and gave the example of Sindh. ‘Education is a disaster in Sindh but its annual budget is Rs80 billion.”

The participants of the ceremony said the current system was in favour of those in power while the people, who were mainly uneducated, were powerless to stand up for their rights.

Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2014