As societies progress through the trajectory of history, one would optimistically expect the evil brunt of hunger and poverty that so ubiquitously plagues the human species to mitigate to its absolute end. Progress, by the mere virtue of it, should be egalitarian and inclusive, incorporating the development of the entire society rather than a few individuals. Concurrently, one could be hopeful that history has taught us a robust lesson. A lesson forged and diffused in our daily existence in such a way that repeating those same mistakes would not only be destructive for humankind’s social cohesion but could fire up an irrevocable level of conflict unprecedented in history. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, ‘poverty’ quite aptly earns its place of being one of the most common diseases prevalent even in the 21st century; a period which we initially believed would finally mark its death. The statistics, on the other hand, depict an even dismal picture. A recent analysis by the Pakistani government has estimated that 60 million of Pakistanis are living under the poverty line. Three out of every ten citizens in Pakistan are poor, a ratio that was earlier just one out of ten.
As decisive as this might seem, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise especially considering that the massive prevalence of this atrocious phenomenon in the country’s economic structures has desensitized us from generating a substantial response towards it. As a matter of fact, most of us couldn’t care less about what the figures imply. We might lament it for a moment, criticize the government over its short-comings and move on with our daily lives. Who cares if 30% of the population lives under Rs. 3,030/ month? Such a petty amount is not even sufficient for enjoying a good dinner. Who cares if our compatriots are deprived of the most basic, inalienable needs such as the access to safe drinking water, food or shelter? Unless it somehow affects our lives, why should we even care? It is this sort of an attitude, frankly speaking, due to which we would never get rid of this disease, which is now spreading like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The 2001 model of poverty measurement was based on food energy intake (FEI), which was not a representative one. To make it more transparent and coherent, the government also incorporated non-food expenditure in the new formula to take account of the costs of basic needs (CBN). Non-food items included expenditures on education, health, and mobile phones, commodities quintessential to survive in the contemporary world. Apparently, such alarming levels of inequality aren’t circumscribed to Pakistan, but before we contemplate over the relative situation in Africa and the rest of the wider world, it is imperative that we commence with our own country first. There are people out there whose only modicum of success for the day is to manage somehow to send their kids to bed not hungry. Sending them to school, if one is that lucky proves to be more of a burden than a benefit. Given degrading situations akin to these, can a society manage to build cohesion and perpetuating bonds with every one of its constituent members when such radical differences haunt underpins the very foundation of it? Most certainly not.
Obviously, the government is at fault here. A lack of long-term planning and the utter failure to build social safety nets for the bottom portions of societal classes has resulted in the abyss we have to deal with today. However, there is only so much a state organization could do- by the day, we as individuals could be deemed equally guilty as the government. For it is usually by the cumulative benevolence of the rest of us that change could reach its desired outcome. Small steps, one at a time would culminate into a larger weapon in the fight against this vicious disease. After all, this is what it means to be human, isn’t it?
