Daily Times

Inequality is the definite new world (dis) order as may be verified by the fact that the richest 1% of the world’s population now control up to 40% of global assets, while the poorest half owns just 1% . To the collective embarrassment of humanity, even the Pandemic COVID 19 has much to do with the greater assurance of the socio-political and economic exclusion of not only many relegated communities but addition of many more populations among the sidelined ones. This virus and existing accepted viruses of exploiting arrangements of business within countries and among countries are effortlessly causing creation of more opportunities of injustice and subsequent outcomes. Many discriminatory policies are practiced professionally even within those organizations that raise a lot of clatter and clamour against the same. Thus, selective activism and silence are the new (coded) names of diplomatic dialogues and pragmatism. Toxic positiveness has trendily replaced soothing optimism. Charity is now an alternative to social justice. Penalties of poverty are artfully sentimentalized and creatively translated as empowerment and entrepreneurship. Story-selling is now synonymous with successful- pitching. Empathy, Engagement With Stakeholders, Inclusivity, Embracing Diversity and many more words and concepts of highest moral grounds are being adopted as an inevitable proof of the transparency of the intent by the movers and shakers of the development industry and visible and invisible hands that run this definitely inequal world.

The recently released National Human Development Report (NHDR)2020 by UNDP has chronicled that Pakistan is a key example of a country where the benefit of development is highly skewed in favour of a small segment of the population. The richest 20%of Pakistanis have an HDI (Human Development Index) , that equals the average for China, but the poorest 20% have an HDI value that is comparable to Sub Saharan African countries. The report has analysed regional inequality through the lens of the HDI (that captures access to education and health care along with trends in income).At the time of research, Sindh because of its leading position in terms of GDP per capita, and its comparatively better progress on life expectancy was found ahead of Pakistan’s other provinces, with the highest provincial HDI value. Punjab has the second highest provincial HDI value and it also leads on education, with the highest net enrolment ratio and literacy rate. KP places third, while Balochistan has the lowest provincial HDI value. Punjab has the highest income inequality within both its urban and rural areas, closely followed by KP, Sindh and Balochistan. Sindh has the maximum gap between urban and rural HDI values, followed by Balochistan, Punjab, and KP. 74% of people in the newly merged districts of KP are multidimensionally underprivileged and for 52 % education is unreachable. Gender inequality has dwindled in all provinces except KP. Women in AJK with 65% fare slightly superior to the average Pakistani woman having the national average of 49%. Poverty of different forms have plummeted in G-B, over the years due to headways in health and living standards, made possible, by the Agha Khan Rural Support Programme and others civil society-led initiative .

The National Human Development Report (NHDR ) 2020 finds that the benefit of development is highly skewed in favour of a small segment of the population in Pakistan. The richest 20 percent enjoy an HDI equal to the average of China — but the poorest 20 percent have an HDI comparable to Sub Saharan Africa

Fairy tales have never failed to impress anyone even the economists. Hence Economics talks about a concept – the Robinhood effect -that can never be discredited by anyone who is allured by life itself and an awakened dreamer of an egalitarian society. In spite of its utopian aroma, it convincingly provides guidance about redistributive taxation and public expenditure policies. This very ratio revealed in NHDR 2020 by UNDP, that Pakistan would need to transfer 23 % of the income of the richest two quintiles to the poorer 3 quintiles to ensure the equal distribution of income across all quintiles. The Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index positions Pakistan second to Sri Lanka in South Asia, but 137th of 157 countries globally.

One cannot find sustainable solutions to end the vicious cycle of poverty and inequality for the millions of Pakistanis without diagnosing the ill accurately. So where is the problem and what is the problem? The seemingly benign question has no easy and risk free answers. Pakistan has to ask tough questions from itself and face its unpleasant truths. How long can the country fool itself with no debate on land reforms, with the same 50-100 individuals who enjoy power and perks in all governments ( democratic or not?) and with no regard for any upright person? Pick any institution in the civil sector and witness unrestrained homosocial reproduction. Ask any young to ageing unemployed individual with a CV, to know, how challenging if not impossible is to find any decent paid work without push of the class or pull of the networking. Ironically, most of those popular and revered figures who are in legislatures or head of hefty programs have never stood in any queue yet alone that of a job seeker. Pakistan or any other country in similar situations cannot afford to last in the illusion of inclusivity and pseudo-indicators of progress. If Pakistan wants to fulfil its commitments towards the SDG it has to go beyond rhetoric and be ready for disruption. This means that Pakistan has to free itself from the slavery of the pedigree, review its priorities and incisively evaluate the credibility of the existing ones and the implementation mechanisms. Plentiful resources must be diverted immediately to the rural areas with conspicuous poverty. Pakistan if truly wants to become a model Islamic welfare state has to dare to devise and adopt apolitical merit-based recruitment, gender, child protection, youth development, fiscal, wage, and social protection policies, that are seriously meant for achieving patent parity. The diminution of inequality can be instantly detected when as a state policy ,social esteem and privileges will be allotted to the unheard and undervalued teachers, peasants, minorities, disabled, transgender, divorced mothers and women etc. as well and an immediate ban is imposed on the romanticization of poverty .

The write is a free thinker and founder of a non-funded independent think tank apna wallet dedicated to raise awareness about psychological-financial empowerment of all women