LAHORE, Aug 28: The International Labour Organization's Policy Planning Department director, Dr Rashed Amjad, has said poverty alleviation is not possible in the country without abolition of feudal culture and increase in employment opportunities.

Delivering a lecture on "Eradication of Unemployment and Poverty Alleviation" arranged by the All-Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions at the Bakhtiar Labour Hall on Saturday, he said the country's economic situation was a cause of concern because 3.7 million people were unemployed and the number of working poor had increased from one million in 1980 to 16 million now. There had been no increase in real wages for the past 10 years either.

He said unemployment among youths between 15 and 25 years was double the general unemployment rate. It was also very high among women in urban areas. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz would have to pay special attention to it in the economic package he had promised and the next five-year plan to be formulated next year, he said.

The ILO director was of the view that bringing of labour laws in conformity with the ILO Conventions and investment in human resource development were necessary for preparing the Pakistani industry to face the globalization challenge by increasing the productivity of workforce and improving the quality of products.

It would not be able to face intense global competition by producing inferior quality products through its low-paid and semi-skilled temporary labour force because workers were available in many countries for even lower wages.

He said Pakistan would have to evolve a long-term policy for survival in the globalized economy. He said the textile industry would have to face tough competition for marketing its products after the abolition of the quota system. Only the industrial units with integrated production processes would be able to face the competition, he added.

Pakistan Workers Confederation Secretary-General Khursheed Ahmad, who is the ILO governing body member, said over 40 per cent people were living below the poverty line in the country.

He said countries like Korea, China and Japan had progressed by developing their human resources, but Pakistan had slid from 131st to 142nd position in the list of developed countries of the world on account of its class-based feudal system.

He said the country had not made any serious preparations in the form of improvements in the working environment, safety conditions or quality of products for facing the globalization challenge. The workers had been deprived of even the rights allowed to them by the British colonial rulers.

The Punjab and Sindh governments, he said, had given a free hand to employers to exploit the workers by suspending labour inspections. Good governance and transparency could not be ensured in the country by inducting the persons being tried on corruption charges into the federal cabinet.

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists President I.H. Raashed said 20 per cent of the world population living in developed countries was controlling 80 per cent of the world resources. He said the prime minister-elect would have to give the country good governance and real democracy to succeed in alleviating poverty. "He will have to improve the law and order situation, ensure industrial peace and bring over 5,000 industrial units back into production to achieve results," Mr Raashed said.

According to All-Pakistan Federation of Trade Unions President Haji Muhammad Amin Rathore, a change in the feudal outlook of the rulers was necessary for solving the problems of the country.