India Pakistan Comparison 2010

[Hutchroy]

Western, southern Punjab

Every second household living in absolute poverty

Wednesday, February 10, 2010
By Mansoor Ahmad

LAHORE: More people live in poverty in western and southern regions of the Punjab comprising fourteen districts than in Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP combined as development and facilitation remain lopsided in the Punjab.

The districts in southern Punjab include Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar khan, Multan, Khanewal, Lodhran and Vehari while Layyah, DG khan, Muzafargardh, Rajanpur, Bhakkar, Khushab and Mianwali are in the west.

According to a study conducted by Dr Ali Cheema and his associates at the Lahore University of Management Sciences every second household in these region lives in absolute poverty irrespective of the parameter used to evaluate poverty.

The combined population of western districts of the Punjab according to provincial government statistics is 11.14 million and in south Punjab it is 17.49 million. The combined population of these two regions is 28.63 million which is higher that the 23 million population of Sindh, 17.7 million population of NWFP and 6.3 million population of Balochistan.

The affluent regions of Punjab are in its north and center. The northern region comprising Rawalpindi, Jehum, Chakwal and Attock districts is the most affluent region of the Punjab, followed by central Punjab which consists of seventeen districts comprising Faisalabad, Jhang, T T Singh, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin, Narowal, Sialkot,Kasur, Okara, Shiekhupura, Pakpattan, Sahiwal, Sargodha and Lahore.

Government data revealed that†the western and southern regions of the Punjab have remained deprived of education, health and social and economic benefits compared with the people living in the north and central Punjab.†The statistics being quoted are official.

In north Punjab the percentage of boys that never enrolled in school are 6.3; it is 17.26 per cent in central Punjab, 30.27 in southern and 26.8 in west Punjab. The situation is grimmer in case of girls as the percentage of girls that never enrolled in schools is 15.98 in the north, 22. 96 in the center, 43.82 in south and 44.36 per cent in the west.

Access to electricity in these two regions is far less than in north and center, as 93.6 per cent of the population in the north has access to electricity while in center, south and west 93.3, 72.6 and 70.9 per cent household have access to electricity.

In case of natural gas the disparity in the availability of this service are starker. Percentage of households having access to natural gas is 43 in the north, 29 in the center, 17 in the south and only 5.8 in the west.

Only in sanitation northern Punjab lags behind with 33.93 per cent over central Punjab where sanitation coverage is 54.6. Sanitation facilities are available to 33 per cent of the households in south Punjab and to only 24.2 per cent in west Punjab.

On the economic side only 5 per cent of the registered factories are located in the north, 73 per cent in the center, 16 per cent in the south and only 6 per cent in the west. In this parameter west Punjab is at par with the north Punjab while south Punjab is way ahead. The quality of employment, however, was found to be better in the north as only 36 per cent of adults in the north reported daily wage as primary occupation, 42.9 per cent in the center, 60 per cent in the south and 52.1 per cent in the west report daily wage labor as primary occupation.

The daily wage workers are mostly non-skilled or semi-skilled workers because they cannot learn skills due to lack of education.

More over there is no guarantee that wage worker would get work regularly. This explains more poverty in the south and west Punjab.

For the households in the north 14.26 per cent of their income comes from remittances which explains their comparative affluence, it is 4.4 per cent in the center, 2.14 per cent in south and 3.03 per cent in the west.

Government job is permanent associated with perks like health and education facilities and assures regular income. In this regard 27.3 per cent of the working age population has government job in the north Punjab, while 10.5 per cent in the center, 6.7 per cent in the south and 8.4 per cent are government employees.

 

[AliFarooq]

HAPPY NOW. ....lo munh meetha karo...

[/IMG]

it's ok, y don't u do ur self a favour and instead of giving this to us, go out of your house and give it to a needy person, you'll feel great.

 

[RiazHaq]

Here's BBC commentary by Soutik Biswas on India's "rights revolution":

Ensuring the basics in life remains the biggest challenge for India, six decades after independence.

Take food. Some 43% of Indian children younger than five are underweight - far above the global average of 25% or sub-Saharan Africa's 28%. India is a lowly 65th among 84 countries in the Global Hunger Index. Half of the world's hungry people live in India.

So the proposed right to food, entitling a poor family to 25kg of rice or wheat at three rupees (seven cents) a kilogram is good news. The bad news is that identifying the deserving poor is a challenge - there are four different government estimates of the very poor or below poverty line (BPL) people floating around. States may inflate numbers of beneficiaries to corner more federal benefits. Then there is the notoriously leaky public distribution system, from where food is often siphoned off by a triad of low-level bureaucrats, shop owners and middlemen.

Nobody can deny that the right to education - every child aged 6-14 can demand free schooling - is critical: an estimated eight million children in that age group do not attend school in India. India's 61% literacy rate lags behind Kenya's 85%. But critics point to a lack of teachers - India would need more than a million teachers just to implement the right - and say there are simply not enough schools to cope with the increased demand.

Rights don't work miracles. But activists say they are an urgent social intervention to empower the poor in a highly iniquitous society, where it is difficult for the poor to access officials to air their grievances and secure their entitlements. "In a hierarchical society, rights-based movements are a way of moving towards equality," says leading political scientist Mahesh Rangarajan. Also, they put pressure on the state to deliver - the right to information, despite glitches, is making government more accountable.

Studies show that sensitive political and bureaucratic leadership combined with grassroots awareness and an engaged local media can translate rights into reality and improve the lives of the poor. Activists point out that money is not a problem - the economy is doing well, revenues are buoyant, federal health and education outlays have been increased. The government has pledged more than $5bn to send 10 million poor children to school.

The cynicism over rights mainly comes from India's burgeoning educated upper middle class. It is mostly not engaged with public institutions at all - its members rarely serve in the lower ranks of the armed forces, teach in state schools or work for the government. Yes, there are valid concerns about whether the state has the capacity to deliver on rights. Yes, the Indian state continues to focus on maintaining law and order and collecting revenue. Delivering services is not its strength. Rights could actually help it move towards a functioning welfare state. I would like to hear stories from you - and people you may know - who are reaping the benefits of the rights revolution.

BBC - Soutik Biswas's India

 

[sparklingway]

Riaz Bhai, I must say that your posts are always India vs Pakistan. Whether it be economic performance, economic indicators or social indicators; it's always India vs Pakistan and naturally you downplay India's economic achievements and fail to recognize Pakistan's faults as well.

A man of your intellect, shouldn't be focused solely on this. You have made some really good contributions to other topics, but focusing on this area does not do any good.

 

[Roby]

Here's BBC commentary by Soutik Biswas on India's "rights revolution":

Ensuring the basics in life remains the biggest challenge for India, six decades after independence.

Take food. Some 43% of Indian children younger than five are underweight - far above the global average of 25% or sub-Saharan Africa's 28%. India is a lowly 65th among 84 countries in the Global Hunger Index. Half of the world's hungry people live in India.

So the proposed right to food, entitling a poor family to 25kg of rice or wheat at three rupees (seven cents) a kilogram is good news. The bad news is that identifying the deserving poor is a challenge - there are four different government estimates of the very poor or below poverty line (BPL) people floating around. States may inflate numbers of beneficiaries to corner more federal benefits. Then there is the notoriously leaky public distribution system, from where food is often siphoned off by a triad of low-level bureaucrats, shop owners and middlemen.

Nobody can deny that the right to education - every child aged 6-14 can demand free schooling - is critical: an estimated eight million children in that age group do not attend school in India. India's 61% literacy rate lags behind Kenya's 85%. But critics point to a lack of teachers - India would need more than a million teachers just to implement the right - and say there are simply not enough schools to cope with the increased demand.

Rights don't work miracles. But activists say they are an urgent social intervention to empower the poor in a highly iniquitous society, where it is difficult for the poor to access officials to air their grievances and secure their entitlements. "In a hierarchical society, rights-based movements are a way of moving towards equality," says leading political scientist Mahesh Rangarajan. Also, they put pressure on the state to deliver - the right to information, despite glitches, is making government more accountable.

Studies show that sensitive political and bureaucratic leadership combined with grassroots awareness and an engaged local media can translate rights into reality and improve the lives of the poor. Activists point out that money is not a problem - the economy is doing well, revenues are buoyant, federal health and education outlays have been increased. The government has pledged more than $5bn to send 10 million poor children to school.

The cynicism over rights mainly comes from India's burgeoning educated upper middle class. It is mostly not engaged with public institutions at all - its members rarely serve in the lower ranks of the armed forces, teach in state schools or work for the government. Yes, there are valid concerns about whether the state has the capacity to deliver on rights. Yes, the Indian state continues to focus on maintaining law and order and collecting revenue. Delivering services is not its strength. Rights could actually help it move towards a functioning welfare state. I would like to hear stories from you - and people you may know - who are reaping the benefits of the rights revolution.

BBC - Soutik Biswas's India

Why you are posting the same articles in every threads?


http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-affairs/50685-fixing-child-malnutrition-crisis-south-asia.html#post791496

http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-affairs/41491-climate-change-worsening-poverty-india.html

 

[riju78]

this thread was dead and buried for 2 months and u had to come and post some more nonsense..didnt u mr.haq??

 

[karan.1970]

---No---No----No--- I dont want to go thru the whole process again...

 

[Mallu]

He also forgot to mention increasing prostitution in india, persecution of religious minorities, and the lack of sanitation and toilets in india!



The only terrorism in Pakistan is the one your country is funding in Balochistan and FATA! And the last time i checked we kicked BLA's and TTP's a$$!

So pakistan is self relient in all this

 

[RiazHaq]

Riaz Bhai, I must say that your posts are always India vs Pakistan. Whether it be economic performance, economic indicators or social indicators; it's always India vs Pakistan and naturally you downplay India's economic achievements and fail to recognize Pakistan's faults as well.

A man of your intellect, shouldn't be focused solely on this. You have made some really good contributions to other topics, but focusing on this area does not do any good.

You are falling prey to the hyper sensitive Indian crowd's false claims about the nature of my threads and posts. If you bother to read them carefully, you'll find plenty of criticism of Pakistan in my posts. This thread that started this posts is very critical of Pakistan's performance in the energy sector and education and literacy (in related links), and praises India's achievements.

But my posts and threads critical of Pakistan are accepted by Indian posters without any questions or fuss....the never gang up to challenge those posts.

 

[RiazHaq]

Indian and UNICEF officials concur that Indians are much worse off than Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in basic nutrition and sanitation.

India is worse than Bangladesh and Pakistan when it comes to nourishment and is showing little improvement in the area despite big money being spent on it, says Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed.

'There has been an enormous infusion of funds. But the National Family Health Survey gives a different story on malnourishment in the country. We don't know, something is just not clicking,' Hameed said.

Speaking at a conference on 'Malnutrition an emergency: what it costs the nation', she said even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during interactions with the Planning Commission has described malnourishment as the 'blackest mark'.


'I should not compare. But countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are better,' she said. The conference was organised Monday by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Ministry of Development of Northeastern Region.


According to India's National Family Health Survey, almost 46 percent of children under the age of three are undernourished - an improvement of just one percent in the last seven years. This is only a shade better than Sub-Saharan Africa where about 35 percent of children are malnourished.


Hameed said the government's Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme, which is a flagship programme to improve the health of women and children, had not shown results despite a lot of money being spent on it in the past few years.


'We have not been successful in improving the status of health of our women and children,' she added.

The annual budget for women and child development (WCD) ministry in 2008-9 is Rs.72 billion. Of this, Rs.63 billion is for ICDS.

According to UNICEF, every year 2.1 million children in India die before celebrating their fifth birthday. While malnutrition is the primary reason behind it, other factors like lack of health facilities, hygiene and good nutrition compound the problem.

Source: IANS, Sulekha

India might be an emerging economic power, but it is way behind Pakistan, Bangladesh and even Afghanistan in providing basic sanitation facilities, a key reason behind the death of 2.1 million children under five in the country.Lizette Burgers, chief water and environment sanitation of the Unicef, Monday said India is making progress in providing sanitation but it lags behind most of the other countries in South Asia.

While a mere 14 percent of people in rural areas of the country - that account for 65 percent of its 1.1 billion population - had access to toilets in 1990, the number had gone up to 28 percent in 2006. In comparison, 33 percent rural Pakistanis had access to toilets in 1990 and it went up to an impressive 58 percent in 2006.

Similarly in Bangladesh, 36 percent of rural people have access to proper sanitation. The corresponding figures for Afghanistan and Sri Lanka were 30 percent and 86 percent respectively.

“This is a huge problem. India has made some progress but there is a lot to be desired. The speed in which we are (India) increasing the toilet usage will not help much,” Burgers told IANS, a day before an international sanitation campaign in Delhi.

She, however, said that the huge population in India is a major challenge. Burgers said that between 1990 and 2006, rural areas of the country has witnessed a growth of 181 million people of which 39 million people did not have access to toilets.

According to the international health and sanitation watchdog, there are at least 2.5 billion people across the globe who do not have access to toilets and 50 percent of them are in the south Asian region.

Source: IANS, Thaindian

Part of the problem fueling anger and insurgencies is the growing number of the poor in India. Here's a recent Reuters report:

India now has 100 million more people living below the poverty line than in 2004, according to official estimates released on Sunday.

The poverty rate has risen to 37.2 percent of the population from 27.5 percent in 2004, a change that will require the Congress-ruled government to spend more money on the poor.

The new estimate comes weeks after Sonia Gandhi, head of the Congress party, asked the government to revise a Food Security Bill to include more women, children and destitutes.

"The Planning Commission has accepted the report on poverty figures," Abhijit Sen, a member of the Planning Commission told Reuters, referring to the new poverty estimate report submitted by a government panel last December.

India now has 410 million people living below the U.N. estimated poverty line of $1.25 a day, 100 million more than was estimated earlier, officials said.

India calculates how much of its population is living below the poverty line by checking whether families can afford one square meal a day that meets minimum nutrition needs.

It was not immediately clear how much more the federal government would have to spend on the poor, as that would depend on the Food Security Bill when it is presented to the government after the necessary changes, officials say.

India's Planning Commission will meet the food and expenditure secretaries next week to estimate the cost aspects of the bill, government officials said.

A third of the world's poor are believed to be in India, living on less than $2 per day, worse than in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, experts say.

'India worse than Pakistan, Bangladesh on nourishment' ? Sulekha News

India trails Pakistan, Bangladesh in sanitation

100 million more Indians now living in poverty | Top News | Reuters

 

[RiazHaq]

 

[Abhiras]

YouTube - No Indian miracle

Cannot you see your country first ????

 

[Abhiras]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Even we can show you some of the videos of your country........

Do you really think that these videos represent 1/6 of the humanity ?

 

[RiazHaq]

Cannot you see your country first ????

India(49) has more than twice as many billionaires as Japan (22) which is a far richer country.

At the same time, Indian and UNICEF officials concur that Indians are much worse off than Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in basic nutrition and sanitation.

India is worse than Bangladesh and Pakistan when it comes to nourishment and is showing little improvement in the area despite big money being spent on it, says Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed.

India might be an emerging economic power, but it is way behind Pakistan, Bangladesh and even Afghanistan in providing basic sanitation facilities, a key reason behind the death of 2.1 million children under five in the country.Lizette Burgers, chief water and environment sanitation of the UNICEF, said India is making progress in providing sanitation but it lags behind most of the other countries in South Asia.

Most of the 8-9% growth has fattened the bottom line of a small percentage of India's population, with the rest getting poorer. India's Gini Index has increased from about 32 to 36 from 2000 to 2007. Pakistan's Gini index is stable at abut 30.

India now has 100 million more people living below the poverty line than in 2004, according to official estimates released on Sunday. The poverty rate has risen to 37.2 percent of the population from 27.5 percent in 2004, according to a Reuters report.

The rising gap between abject poverty and obscene wealth in India is fueling anger, and strengthening insurgencies such as the Maoists'.

 

[Abhiras]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
China and India Uplift Millions from Slums as U.S. Inequality Grows (One World, Many Peaces)

China and India Uplift Millions from Slums as U.S. Inequality Grows

China Slums and India Slums Get SmallerThink it's impossible to lift millions of people out of desperate poverty in a matter of years? Think again. India and China have together uplifted at least 125 million people from slums since 2000, and have improved the lives of slum dwellers more than any other countries, according to a new U.N. report. Meanwhile, the U.S. is quickly securing the distinction of being the most unequal country on earth.

India has lifted 59.7 million people out of slum conditions since 2000, where slum prevalence fell from 41.5 per cent in 1990 to 28.1 per cent in 2010, according the State of the World’s Cities report. China's urban population living in slums fell from 37.3 per cent in 2000 to some 28 per cent in 2010, a relative decrease of 25 per cent. China has made the greatest progress on this front with improvements to the daily living conditions of 65.3 million urban residents. Overall, 227 million people worldwide have moved out of slum conditions since 2000. This didn't happen accidentally, of course, but is the result of superb planning and even more notable execution on the parts of the Indian and Chinese governments.

The report outlines four major steps to uplifting people out of slums. First is to build the skills of the urban poor and encourage them starting micro-businesses of their own choosing, funded by micro-credit. Second is to improve the provision of basic services from nutrition and sanitation within slum settlements. Third is to provide land tenure security to poor families living in unauthorized settlements, improving their access to low-cost housing and subsidized housing finance. These steps correspond exactly to the first level of the Pyramid of Peace in Antony Adolf's Peace: A World History.

The US has emerged as one of the most unequal societies with cities like New York, Chicago and Washington less equal than places like Brazzaville in Congo-Brazzaville, Managua in Nicaragua and Davao City in the Phillippines. Overall, however, the U.N. report warns that the number of people living in slums has risen from 777 million in 2000 to 830 million in 2010, and unless urgent steps similar to those taken by India and China are taken that number could rise to 900 million by 2020.