From my reading on this subject I was surprised with two facts. On the objective international standard of
$1.90 Pakistan had far lower % in extreme poverty - you know the
ribcage sticking out poverty where poverty means you see a breathing
skeleton.
But each country also has their own poverty rates. In UK for instance if you don't make $78 a day your are in poverty. In India the government deliberately chose a ridicalously
low figure [lower then international standard] to produce false figures making it look like it has less poverty. In Pakistan on the contrary the domestic poverty line has been set
higher then international dollar standard giving us higher poverty figure.
Having a artificially low figure might hide the poverty from the outside world - the poor by definition have no voice but it does not help to resolve the issue. On the contrary having the poverty line set higher like in Pakistan causes policymakers to address the problem as opposed to pushing it under the carpet. Examples of this are the $1 billion BISP programme that hands direct cash to the poorest in the country helping the ribcage poor with basics like food etc. This is in fact the first example of the foundations of a welfare state in South Asia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benazir_Income_Support_Programme
http://bisp.gov.pk/
http://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2015/04/22/reaching-poorest-safety-net-pakistan
Agreed. Since then you will have reached all the way to
Pluto and we will have been buried in
Dead Sea. 7 years ago was not 7000 years ago. It was the same India and Pakistan. Unless Modejee waved a abracadra and your now kissing Norway.
