Tackling socio-economic problems

Pakistan is a developing country and faces all social problems that developing countries are faced with along with political instability that aggregates the problem further. Currently, Pakistan has many challenges to face in the form of socio-economic problems. One of the big social problems for Pakistan is poverty. 70% of the population of Pakistan lives in villages. According to an analysis poverty has increased roughly from 30% to 40% of the country’s population is merely earning their livelihood below the poverty line. Second problem Pakistan is facing the dragon of over-population. The growth rate is very high and is among the highest in the world. The massively increasing population has almost outstripped the resources in production, facilities and in job opportunities. Pakistan is poorly faced with the problem of unemployment. . It is always considered to be killing for an economy. . It has negative impact on society. It creates frustration and revengeful attitude. It leads to an increase in the incidences of crimes. Owing to poverty and unemployment, parents instead of sending their children to schools, prefer child labor for them. Rising poverty in Pakistan necessitates that 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) be spent on social sector including education, health, safe drinking water, sanitation and basic infrastructure. At present, Pakistan spends only three per cent of its GDP on health and education whereas India allocates nine per cent for these sectors. Such a meager amount which is already insufficient to cater to the needs is further misappropriated. There are less hospitals and medical centers. If there are any, the people are unable to afford their and their children’s health expenses. So the health problems grow unchecked. It is very depressing that basic health facilities are not available to the half of the population. Social problems are interlinked with economics problems. Economic prosperity serves as a backbone for the overall progress of a nation. When citizens of a country are free from worries of earning, a livelihood to sustain their lives, they can focus on education, improvise healthcare, develop technologies that make life easy and much more poor economic condition is the root cause of so many problems that exist in a society. Pakistan economic conditions are pathetic as if power crises, lack of foreign investment for the development of industrial zones, backward and out-dated technology were not enough. Pakistan indulgence in war of terrorism served as a fatal blow to the already crumbling economic state. This war has destroyed our economy beyond imagination. Pakistan’s economy has suffered on two accounts: first large amount of money being used on war on terror and second because we have lost many foreign investor and markets. An energy crisis has further crippled the already tumbling economy. It has almost jammed the industrial wheel of the country. Owing to frequent outages many industrial units have been closed. Closure of industries has caused a severe blow to the economy. Energy starved economy fails to attract foreign investment badly. Moreover, tax system in Pakistan is also insufficient and unsatisfactory. Tax evasion is common. The rich are reluctant to pay tax, while the poor are paying tax even on the purchase of a match box. There are so many problems in Pakistan. There is only one thing that can help Pakistan in solving all problems that is the self-improvement of each and every Pakistani. All of us should be patriotic, honest and hardworking. Everyone should respect the laws of country and obey the laws, only then we can change our Pakistan’s condition. Altamish Azhar is a student at the Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar.]]>