Poverty is a multi-dimensional trend in which one lacks sufficient amount of income and is unable to fulfill their day to day requirements and is also unable to satisfy their basic needs. It is a state of being poor including lack of access to social infrastructure and comforts. In developing countries, poverty is very common.
It is a curse and unfortunately, Pakistan is one of the developing countries facing the problem of poverty. Islam too considers poverty as unfortunate. Our Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) to used to pray to Allah to save him from this curse i-e poverty. Pakistan is facing problem of general poverty i-e poverty in all economic sectors of life. In Pakistan, 21.0% population is spending their life below the poverty line. The poverty lines refer to one dollar per day.
The main causes of poverty are economic, social and political. Economic causes include unemployability, low level of productivity, low national income, low per capita income, use of backward production techniques, increase in utility bills, etc. Social causes include illiteracy, low living standard, low infrastructure, corruption, high population, and not allowing females to work while political causes include poor law and order situations, nepotism, landlord system and lack of government stability
Poverty is not bad but staying poor and not trying to remove poverty is bad. There is a great saying, “if you are born poor, it is not your mistake but if you die poor, it is your biggest mistake.” In Pakistan, it is increasing day by day. The government should take effective measures to reduce poverty. Here are some of measures government should take to minimize poverty.
Education:
The first step government should take to solve this conundrum, is to educate its subjects. It should increase the chances of education by allocating more funds for education to reduce illiteracy and providing free education and scholarships. Motivational sessions should be held at different areas where rate of educations is low and should motivate them to get higher and higher education which will eventually lead to change in their lives leading to lower poverty level. Increase Employability Chances:
Government should increase the chances of jobs in every sector and should provide more facilities to investors to increase investment. Satisfactory paying-jobs is the best way to get rid of poverty. It should invest in creating jobs opportunities sector and boost our national economy. Government should focus on both federal and private sectors, providing chances to people to come forward and change their lifestyle. As now different programs are initiated by government of KPK where it provides grant to young entrepreneurs to start their own business which will not only change their life but impact others as well.
Remove Corruption and Nepotism:
One of the solutions to solve this problem is to remove corruption and nepotism. Such measured are to be taken because these are the main roots to poverty. Due to nepotism and corruption, the rights of individual are not given to the rightful owner because of which most of degree holders cannot find suitable job and are living in poverty.
Increase the Minimum Wage
Government should focus on raising the minimum wage of individuals so that they are able to fulfill their basic needs. The action taken by certain states such as Washington, New Jersey and California shows that raising the minimum wage reduces poverty. Raising minimum wage will lead to lift out millions of people from poverty.
Population Control:
Population control measures should be taken because our national income is not sufficient to feed such large population of 20billion. Pakistan ranks 6th in population and the growth rate is 1.93%. The state should organize awareness programs time to time, to create awareness among its subjects, in order to control population. Once the population is controlled, it will help a lot in reducing poverty.
Women Education and Employability:
Women can change the future of our nation but unfortunately, in most of rural areas, they are not allowed to take education or earn for themselves. Awareness programs should be held to educate females and motivate them to achieve their goals, which will eventually reduce poverty.
Utility Bills
The amount of utility bills such as electricity bills, gas bills and water bills should be reduced so that people easily pay the bills and also are able to fulfill their basic needs. Because due to, increase in the amount of bill payment, most people are unable to utilize the basic need such as water, food etc. easily.
National Income:
Government should focus on increasing national income and should also lower the rate of taxes on basic requirements of life. Increase in per capita income will help in reducing poverty and lowering the tax rate will help lower class individuals to satisfy their basic needs.
Law and Order Situation
The law and order situation of our country is very unsatisfying. We need proper law and order as its maintenance is necessary to remove poverty because if we have well-maintained law and order, everyone’s rights will be secure and rich will not remain rich anymore and poor people will obtain their rights.
Landlord System:
Focus by the government should be laid on finishing the landlord system. In many rural areas of Punjab, landlord system is very common due to which the status quo prevails. If this system is removed, and people are given their due rights, poverty will come to an end.
Government Stability:
Stability or instability of government of a country directly affects its economy and subjects. If a government is stable, a country will flourish day and night but if government is unstable, the situation will become worse. Unfortunately, from independence up till now, the government of our country has remained turbulent. If this issue is resolved, our country will flourish and eventually, the problem of poverty will be solved.
Saving:
Instead of wasting our money on useless things, we should try to save more and more because it will help us in time of hardships. One can also use his/her savings to help people facing poverty. We need to become more sensible while using our money.
Productivity and Infrastructure:
The state should focus on increasing the productivity level and using advance production techniques for increasing productivity. Improving the infrastructure of the country should also be prioritized.
If the above measures are taken and implemented well, rate of poverty in the country will surely reduce and our country will start flourishing.
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