Over 50% families can’t have two meals a day

[Nilgiri]

Thank you @Nilgiri for opening this thread. While this should have opened eyes of my compatriots instead they are more concerned about your nationality while completely ignoring the problem at hand.

This thread is a manifestation of our national behavior that instead of accepting the ground realities we start telling others what is wrong with their country. A section of concerned people will start blaming one govt or the other.

The issue is mostly because of mismanagement in some cases and absence of systems/programs to address this issue. For example, in Thar (Sindh) there is a drought and famine situation. Sindh govt had wheat and medicines for the people affected however the people responsible for ensuring the delivery to people never did so. The wheat got destroyed and medicines expired but never reached the people. This is one of the example.

The second problem is of awareness in our country.
Vaccines, health programs and anything remotely backed up by UN goes under a Mullah's microscope who declares it a conspiracy against the Muslims. You would find how people were made averse to the idea of contraceptive, same is the case with polio drops. Family planning is being looked down upon and women are considered as kid producing machines in poor families.

The good news is that Pakistan has been making progress on corruption perception index...and hopefully that has come from some improvement of results on ground which will continue and accelerate.

There need to be some system of addressing as transparently as possible, those that are in the "middle"/"grey" area of govt...the bureaucracy basically....i.e each elected/selected (however ppl perceive that) administration needs to put political differences aside and reward those that are doing a good job (by all measures)...and punish/fire/replace those that are doing a bad or criminal job even.

Then and only then do crucial institutions take on an inertia of self improvement...so there is even some decent chance for the poorest people of our region to not live so hand to mouth and be devoid of a basic access to dignity.

Otherwise simply, it does not really matter who comes to power and who is out of power etc...because all the action/interest/energy (expended by people that could do something) simply becomes black and white absolute scapegoat/hero complex.

I must note the intrinsic+cultural system of Zakat is very noble one that has done a very good job in Pakistan (and muslim-majority countries in general) to address basic income poverty over time (so much so that Pakistan is below 1% poverty rate in current estimates). But to translate into really addressing the broader persistent forms of poverty, there needs to be a qualitative+institutional focus with of course those blessed to be private individual samaritans (like the hero Edhi) also helping and setting a good inspiring example.

A very interesting thing that I have noticed in India case for example, is in the oxford-undp MPI study, those that have escaped (thankfully) the defined scope of multi-dimensional poverty during the 2006 - 2016 era (estimated about 270 million people or so) are all more or less in the category just above it called "vulnerable to multi-dimensional poverty". So definitely a difference is made (in that they have access more than before to basic things)....but the process to get to proper middle-income zone (where people can finally operate on autopilot broadly in economic terms) is a very long one and likely generational (or even multi-generational) duration in length.

Thus its so key to focus as much as possible on the youngest (from inception itself), because their full life is ahead of them still and thus investment into them (body, mind and soul) is the best investment possible for long term heath, progress and benefit of society.

@That Guy @RealNapster @Oscar @waz @RescueRanger @niaz @American Pakistani @VCheng @M. Sarmad @Zaki @Kaniska @Indos @Marine Rouge @Imran Khan

 

[VCheng]

The good news is that Pakistan has been making progress on corruption perception index...and hopefully that has come from some improvement of results on ground which will continue and accelerate.

The good news is that you have Ban Protection, and the bad news is that I don't.

So how honest can I be in replying to you?

Seriously though, denial of any rise in malnutrition in Pakistan is traditionally achieved by showing it to be less than in India, followed by the perennial favorite topic of toilets, or rather the lack thereof.

In 3, 2, 1 ....

 

[Proudpakistaniguy]

You are just so right. Imran Khan miserably has failed in governing. I mean his 1 year is equal to Pmln’s 30 years.
This guy is selected, puppet of fauj, and agent of Israel.
Let’s gang up against him to remove from this position.

Oh and I nominate @DeadSparrow for PM.

Why we exaggerate ? PML(N) was 30 years in centre? How?

If you are talking about government in provinces then you should count 5 years of PTI in KPK so then its not one year of PTI

 

[313ghazi]

Naya Pakistan Riasat e Medina

See evidence of the stunted growth.

 

[Vapnope]

@Nilgiri
I have noticed one more thing in case of India & Pakistan. In Pakistan we have dearth of data is almost every field but i have seen a decent data coming from India lately. I believe if we have readily available data, people will understand and accept ground realities more easily because somehow they don't trust data collected by international agencies.

You are right about Zakat/charity being one factor which helps to address food shortage problem however uplifting people from poverty to middle class would require a robust governmental policy backed by strong industrial/manufacturing base.

We have a pure foods laws promulgated in 1964 which were derived from British law before Partition. Then in 2011 Shehbaz Sharif took a good initiative and came up with Punjab pure food laws which basically addresses food related standards. The guidelines are being implemented in Punjab so far and KPK and Sindh are picking it up as well. I believe if the guidelines about food are implemented in true spirit, we will be able to address some of the problems mentioned in the above article.

 

[313ghazi]

I'm glad we have this data. We need to know the extent of the truth before we can help our people.

 

[user1]

Chinese have started to grow cereal crops with sea water.
The wheat belt of Australia is a desert region, all nutrients come from fertilisers.
If we apply these two strategies, then we could bring a green revolution in Balochistan, be able to subsidise food and improve quality of life.

 

[fisher1]

You are just so right. Imran Khan miserably has failed in governing.

Oh and I nominate @DeadSparrow for PM.

Correct.

I don't want to be a PM and be held questionable to people. If you knew how much the responsibilities of a leader are and he will be questioned for it in the afterlife, you would be just as scared as i am of becoming a PM.

But if i became one, my cabinet wouldn't be full of PPP dirt and the people who are responsible for destruction of this country.

I mean Jehangir Tareen is the defacto prime minister and everything he says goes. JKT will bring tabdeeli???

See evidence of the stunted growth.

So Imran Khan has stunted growth? Those are his slogans not mine.

 

[RealNapster]

I must note the intrinsic+cultural system of Zakat is very noble one that has done a very good job in Pakistan (and muslim-majority countries in general) to address basic income poverty over time (so much so that Pakistan is below 1% poverty rate in current estimates). But to translate into really addressing the broader persistent forms of poverty, there needs to be a qualitative+institutional focus with of course those blessed to be private individual samaritans (like the hero Edhi) also helping and setting a good inspiring example

Zakat, and then we have Pakistan bait-ul-maal too. Which support those families that earn less then 10000/month. My uncle also work for baitulmaal (voluntair service) where he recieve Payments of 3000-5000 for each poor person and he then distribute that money among registered persons with bait ul maal. Only in our village of some 800 houses he distribute some 80 envelops. Apart from that, It give scholarships to poor students in all universities of Pakistan. Along that, bait ul maal also support poor and disabled in other ways. One of its initiative is sweet homes for childrens where poor childrens study and live. Then they provide residence to poor families. Help disabled those who can’t buy wheel chairs it give them wheel chairs. Then we have worker welfare bord (WWB) theough which industries pay college/university fees of its workers kids (doesn’t katter how many kids he have). So basically 40% help to poor come from bait ul maal, 40% from zakat, and other 20% from other means like khairat, atyaat etc.. other then that, we have concept of hujra in KP which is called “dheera” in Sindh and Punjab. Not aware of Punjab and sindh but in KP travelers and those (lone travelers) who came from other places and have no means stay in hujras where either a single family took his respnsibility or the responsibility is shared by the whole street which means 3 times meal a day and some financial help like say 50-100 Rs after 2-3 days. So add all these things and then add the “shukr Alhamdulillah” to it and you have no poor in Pakistan. Even if someone is poor and a surveyor ask him are you poor ? Dont you get food ? He will most probably say “no i get food. Shukr Alhamdulillah my Allah give me food”. What next ??
But this doesn’t mean malnutrition is an alien word to Pakistan. As IK said in one of his speech that 40% of our kids suffer from malnutrition. The solution is proper diet.

 

[HAIDER]

Guys, lets not assign/imply blame exclusively as usual. The problem come from institutional deficiency (region suffers from this more broadly) past simple leadership.

This is very key thing Pakistan need to address here:

He stressed the importance of a proper diet during pregnancy, urging expecting mothers to realise that what they eat is transferred directly to their children.

There must be especially rural education program and outreach for all women there of child bearing age. Specific subsidy for nutritious food as soon as they get pregnant maybe can be looked at?

Biggest issue is new residential projects on agricultural land in Pakistan. People wants to become rich overnight . But, farming is getting expensive too. Fertilizer prices went too high, water supply, yield per hector is extremely low.

 

[B.K.N]

But this doesn’t mean malnutrition is an alien word to Pakistan. As IK said in one of his speech that 40% of our kids suffer from malnutrition. The solution is proper diet.

Pakistanis are not starving but actually are not getting a balanced diet like not enough protein etc

dheera

This word is dera like dera ghazi khan or dera bugti
And mostly big land owners or politicians have a dera you can say it a male only portion of home
It can be near home or in some other area away from home

 

[Ashwasthama]

Pakistan has a huge fertile land. If Pakistan adopts the organic farming and natural farming, invest in water conservation through community efforts, Pakistan can be a food heaven. There are some excellent development in India including Zero budget farming, Natural farming, use of waste decomposer etc . This is changing India's agriculture sector from Grass root. Farmers are now taking somewhere between 5 lakh to 15 lakh profit from per acre per years with natural farming, mixed farming, organic farming etc with almost no cost. I too have grown organic Basmati rice in a leased land and planning to have a stable of 10 to 15 cow/buffalo giving 15 to 20 liters milk every day. Education to farmers is a the most important criterion. Few guys from Pakistan should come to India to learn those numerous farming techniques developed in last few years. If this is done, Pakistan can revolutionize agriculture sector within a decade or 2. Pakistan can build organic food forest on the principle of Permaculture to take care of its 200+ million population.

 

[B.K.N]

Pakistan has a huge fertile land

Why you think there is any scaricty of food in Pakistan
Pakistan is exporter of food and with the modernization of agriculture these exports would increase further
And if you Indians are so concerned about Pakistani agriculture than stop stealing our water

 

[Ashwasthama]

the problem is there is no industry . Business men invests in plots and land which do not create jobs and exports. there should be a tax on plots to discourage this trend

This is a dangerous trend where entrepreneurs becomes traders. It is the duty of government to encourage entrepreneurship and come up with some entrepreneur friendly policies for start ups.

Pakistan government should focus on 4 things in my opinion.
1) Agriculture and animal husbandry. This will bring the leaving standard of Pakistan people up with food available in abundance and huge number of employment generation in the country.
2) Electrical power generation. This is a very important for industries. Pakistan should go for renewable energy in big way with solar energy leading it.
3) Textile: This has been a very strong area of Pakistan. In recent time, it has gone down. Pakistan should strength it by supplying cheap factors of production like cheap loan, cheap electricity etc . This sector is a big employment generator.
4) Primary education and skill development: Pakistan should craft a very thoughtful primary education policy and focus on skill development so that the people can earn their livelihood and contribute to economy. Good primary education shall bring uniformity and decipline in next generation.

Why you think there is any scaricty of food in Pakistan
Pakistan is exporter of food and with the modernization of agriculture these exports would increase further
And if you Indians are so concerned about Pakistani agriculture than stop stealing our water

I am not India. I am a poster here who express his thought on any particular issue. If Pakistan is a food surplus state than fine. If that is the case, it will reflect in food inflation index. If you say is the case than why such article appears in your own media that over 50% of population does not have full 2 meals every day. It is not me who is saying this.

 

[Maxpane]

Pakistan government should focus on 4 things in my opinion.
1) Agriculture and animal husbandry. This will bring the leaving standard of Pakistan people up with food available in abundance and huge number of employment generation in the country.

sir if government brings investment and encourage companies to investment in meat processing plants then there is a huge potential .
i believe it would be billions dollars industry .