Since the last fifteen years in these columns, we have been persistently warning consecutive governments of the ever widening rich-poor divide because of short-sighted policies and an extremely faulty revenue system of the country yet not a single step has been taken in the direction of remedying this ever-growing monster that is now staring in the eyes of the people of Pakistan. It is evident from the release of first Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), based on the Alkire-Foster methodology, published by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Pakistan. MPI, showing startling results, has three dimensions: education, health and living standards. To tailor the measure to Pakistan's context and public policy priorities, 15 indicators [see Figure] were used for this national measure, instead of the 10 employed for the global measure. Within these 15 indicators, three indicators are included under the dimension of education (years of schooling, child school attendance, and educational quality), four under health (access to health facilities/clinics/Basic Health Units (BHU), immunisation, ante-natal care, and assisted delivery) and eight under living standards (water, sanitation, walls, overcrowding, electricity, cooking fuel, assets, and a land/livestock indicator specifically for rural areas). Each of the three dimensions carries an equal weight of 1/3 of the MPI. The weights of the component indicators within each dimension are equal unless another justification is provided, as outlined in Section 2.1.3. Overall, a person must be deprived in 1/3 of these weighted indicators to be identified as multidimensionally poor. Applying this measure to data from the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) survey for the 2014/15 period, it was found that the country's Multidimensional Poverty Index stands at 0.197. This indicates that poor people in Pakistan experience 19.7% of the deprivations that would be experienced if all people were deprived in all indicators. Secondly, it must be noted that the MPI is a product of two essential components: the poverty "headcount" and the "intensity" of deprivation. Using the same data from the 2014/15 PSLM survey, the country's multidimensional poverty "headcount ratio" was estimated at 38.8% of the population. This means that 38.8% of the population of Pakistan is poor, according to the MPI. The average intensity of deprivation, which reflects the share of deprivation, which each poor person experiences on average, is 50.9%.
Earlier, a number of informative-though highly disturbing studies-conducted by the Centre for Research on Poverty and Income Distribution (CRPID, www.crpid.org), confirmed that rich-poor divide in Pakistan is increasing alarmingly. According to conservative estimates, 63% of poor in Pakistan are in the category of 'transitory poor'. The rest of 32% and 5% of the population-subsisting below the poverty line-are 'chronic' and 'extremely poor', respectively. Chronic and extremely poor are those households that are always below the poverty line, all the time during a defined period. Similarly, on the other side, 13% and 21% of total non-poor (above the poverty line) have been classified as 'transitory vulnerable' and 'transitory non-poor', respectively. This portrays an alarming situation as more and more people are moving from transitory category to chronic category, courtesy regressive taxation leading to inequitable distribution of income and wealth, monopoly over assets by a few and wasteful spending by the government. Rulers in Pakistan since its inception have shown extreme apathy towards the poor. They are not at all interested to make Pakistan an egalitarian society-providing economic justice to all.
One wonders if the present government, badly trapped by the forces that matter in the land in various non-issues, is cognizant of this state of affairs and devising some practical means to overcome it. Instead of paying attention to this dilemma, the government of the day is rapidly moving towards a disastrous direction that has in its wake extremely hazardous outcome. With the education system geared to only producing money-making human robots devoid of moral, ethical or cultural values, political system that is fraught with corruption, mediocrity, nepotism and lawlessness and a totally out of control population explosion, what else can one expect other than the poor turning on the rich for a few pennies especially when they see that a handful are enjoying a highly ostentatious and privileged life-style while they are subjected to inhuman rigours and misery of life where their children are forced to remain impoverished, illiterate and slaves to those who are in power-whether it be power of wealth or knowledge.
Since money has attained a godly status, everyone aspires to make more and more whether through legal or illegal means. People are respected not because they have unique personality traits, are highly educated or who are serving humanity, but they are eulogised on account of the wealth that they possess. This is reflected in the way we conduct our diplomacy on the international level. Our relationships with the rich and powerful countries are more congenial compared to the poorer nations of the world. Thus, we may go out of our way to please an ordinary official hailing from a rich country but will care two hoots for an acclaimed academician from say Ethiopia or Eritrea. Similarly, our people get awe-inspired by someone who boasts of material possessions but view a pauper contemptuously.
With these kinds of negative values that have penetrated our social fabric, it is not surprising that a majority of the parents are prone to inculcating the importance of earning money rather than developing the concepts that were taught to them by their own parents. Now the worth of children is gauged from their ability to earn money and not on the basis of their inert qualities through which they may emerge as potential Nobel laureates, renowned scientists, inventors, artistes, religious scholars or merely good members of the society. This is indeed a very sad state of affairs because of which we are fast headed towards self-destruction.
To make matters worse, another huge issue that is looming over us is perhaps more disturbing and that is the reluctance on the part of those who have to share their blessings with the deprived ones. Many are seen lavishly indulging themselves and their loved ones in all kinds of luxuries whether needed or not while their neighbours, subordinates and servants may be struggling to make their ends meet. Requests for loans or financial assistance are turned down on one pretext or the other which causes heartburn and frustration. Their plight might appear petty to these hoarders of wealth but could be of prime significance for the needy, yet they are hesitant in ameliorating their sufferings. A person who labours under very harsh conditions is perhaps putting in the most effort compared to his employer yet his compensation is extremely meager whereas the employer gets away with the major chunk of the profits. Under such circumstances it is not surprising that we are today witnessing such heinous criminal acts at the hands of those in our employment. When the concept of caring is replaced with selfishness, it automatically gives rise to disgruntlement which in turn manifests itself in the committal of inhuman acts which are at times too gruesome for words.
The great psychoanalyst Erich Fromm in his 1976 book (To Have or to Be?) differentiates between having and being. He writes that that modern society has become materialistic and prefers "having" to "being". He mentions the great promise of unlimited happiness, freedom, material abundance, and domination of nature. These hopes reached their highs when the industrial age began. One could feel that there would be unlimited production and hence unlimited consumption. Human beings aspired to be gods of earth, but this was not really the case. The great promise failed due to the unachievable aims of life, ie maximum pleasure and fulfilment of every desire (radical hedonism), and the egotism, selfishness and greed of people. In the industrial age, the development of this economic system was no longer determined by the question of what is good for man, but rather of what is good for the growth of the system. So, the economic system of society served people in such a way in which only their personal interests were intended to impart. The people having unlimited needs and desires like the Roman emperors, the English and French noblemen were the people who got the most out it.
Society nowadays has completely deviated from its actual path. The materialistic nature of people of "having" has been more developed than "being". Modern industrialisation has made great promises, but all these promises are developed to fulfil their interests and increase their possessions. In every mode of life, people should ponder more on "being" nature and not towards the "having" nature. This is the truth which people deny and thus people of the modern world have completely lost their inner selves. The point of being is more important as everyone is mortal, and thus having of possessions will become useless after their death, because the possessions which are transferred to the life after death, will be what the person actually was inside.
The only solution left is for the society to rediscover the significance of its fast eroding values and to revive them through simple tales (eg Aesop's Fables) that can easily be narrated or animated to attract young children. Instead of the meaningless, at times violent, cartoon movies which the young generation enjoys so much, the educational institutions, parent-teacher associations in collaboration with the government agencies can reintroduce the forgotten tales of love, peace, selflessness, sacrifice, benevolence and humanity, the rewards of which are not received in terms of money but in the form of an everlasting reverence, adoration and respect for the benefactors.
(The writers, lawyers and partners in Huzaima, Ikram & Ijaz, are Adjunct Faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017