Inequalit y in the Modern era

Th e b i g g e s t t h re at t o m o d e r n s o c i e t y

AttiyA MunAwer

In e q u a l i t y is perhaps the biggest threat to people in the modern society of today and almost any human being can perceive the fact that the increase of inequality is a pressing issue it is a dreadful truth to say that one must endure some sort of inequality at least once in their lifetime it may include a bunch of discernible inequality issues likewise economic inequality social inequality healthcare inequality educational inequality income inequality and gender inequality all of which are concerns that surround us every day yet are not being dealt sufficiently as issues where change needs to be brought about economic inequality and its diminution are one of the biggest challenges of any country the widening gap between the rich and poor has largely excluded the poor from the benefit of growth the most prominent expression of inequality in Pakistan, a country where the contribution of the rural population is as high 64 percent is in the dispensation of farmland among rural households the top one percent of farmers possess as much as 20 percent of the farm area while the top 20 percent possess 69 percent and the most unprivileged farmer has only 0 3 hectares on average So this way large tracts of land are hoarded by the feudal class which aids the government or to collect surplus land revenues by itself the inflating gap between the rich and the poor is due to state capture by the elites Feudal lords, urban property owners, military establishments and shareholders of large corporations are the most invincible groups of a society that have obtained wide-ranging tax exemptions and privileged access to bank credits and public resources they also get minimal control by regulatory agencies the continued levying of minimal tax ultimately results in the downfall of the economy now the country is on the verge of not creating enough jobs for a majority of the youth entering the labour force annually these youth are either unemployed or idle and vulnerable to the appeal of religious extremism, violence and any other form of crime

Moreover, a sense of deprivation and estrangement among the people of the least dev e l o p e d o r i m p o v e r i s h e d a r e a s i n c i t e s disparities in a country under the guise of the Republic some people are ardent supporters of monarchy and intend to use racial divisiveness to lodge in power Racism is the rich s main weapon in the class struggle they are winning, and Pakistan s middle class is shrinking by the day the rising unemployment among educated workers has partly resulted in a decline in value-added e x p o r t s c a u s e d b y b u rg e o n i n g c o m p e t i t i v e pressures in an escalating process of globalization the trapping of inherited wealth that leads to extreme discrimination among individuals in terms of their race gender and ethnicity must be cut down as soon as possible t h e r e i s a n e e d t o e m p h a s i z e t h e r o l e a n d e m e rg e n c e o f t h e m i d d l e c l a s s i n P a k i s t a n which can effectively promote social and political change in a better way inequality of income between nations imposes a major contentious issue as compared to inequality of income within a country Some countries are full of natural resources, have a favourable climate, and possess raw materials but they lack sufficient capital equipment, accessibility, and ease to exploit them extremes of weather incline to impact more heavily on such countries as are unable to cope with such extremes than those economically developed countries that tend to at least help themselves to resolve it developed countries play their effective role by giving aid to indigent countries so that they can stand on the firm pillars of the

I n e q u a l i t y i s a n i n ev i t a bl e fe a t u r e o f o u r s o c i e t y t h a t p e rs i s t s i n t h e m o d e r n e r a , w h e t h e r i t i s g e n d e r i n e q u a l i t y o r i n e q u a l i t i e s i n s o c i a l cl a s s . T h e s e i n e q u a l i t i e s h a d r e m a i n e d t h e p a r t o f o l d t i m e s a n d a r e s t i l l h e r e t o t h e p r e s e n t d ay, ye t d o n ’ t s e e m t o b e ch a n g i n g s o o n , ev e n t h o u g h t h e g ov e r n m e n t i s s t i l l cl a i m i n g t h a t i t h a s a l r e a dy u p ro o t e d s u ch s t e r e o t y p e s a n d s o c i a l cl a s s d i s c r i m i n a t i o n tions have given Pakistan a very tough time to issue new loans, which is why such a difficult situation has emerged in the contemporary world, the continuity of policy is extremely important for the trust and confidence of international institutions and friendly countries the main reason for the problems of the people is the political instability and doubts about the continuity of the policies and this political instability is also one of the main causes of the current inflation and unemployment now coming to the second question is there an opportunity to get out of the current situation? to understand this, keep the following facts in mind

(a) during the first seven months of the current fiscal year, Pakistan imported commodities worth $7 billion for which all the inputs are available in Pakistan this amount translates into Rs 1820 billion these commodities are still being produced in Pakistan and all the resources for their production including manpower technology and all the required equipment are present in Pakistan But their production fell far short of domestic demand which led to imports of these goods Pakistani imports during the current fiscal year includes cotton, wheat, vegetables, fruits, edible oil textile products pulses and so on if these goods were produced locally instead of imports not only foreign exchange would be saved but millions of people would also get employment in the production of these goods From cultivation of agricultural commodities to harvest, there is a difference of just a few months if crops of edible oil are cultivated today, it is possible to obtain yield from the crops within six months therefore, if due attention is paid to the production of these agricultural commodities not only a surplus current account is possible but it is also possible to repay the loans But for this purpose agriculture needs very serious attention if we start production of a crop in an area previously used for another crop the production of the previous crop may reduce leading to imports of that crop resulting in import of the second commodity there is a need to uti-

Avoid promoting the negative aspects. Especially unconfirmed and funny memes, hur ting the repute of your nation must be stopped. By promoting a negative aspect, you are par t of a crime of spreading a negative imag e of your countr y, and if the content of such promotion is also false , then you are guilty of the two crimes, perjur y and false promotion of the countr y lize such agricultural lands on an emergency basis which are not yielding any production at present there is also a need to upgrade the marginal lands and to increase the yield per acre other major imports of Pakistan include petroleum natural gas and their products it is not possible to eliminate the import of these goods however it is possible to reduce their imports For this purpose we need to focus on alternative sources of energy especially on biogas and other biological sources Biogas is such a source of energy that if the project is started today it is possible to generate energy within just a couple of weeks each small and large biogas project will save dollars and will reduce dependence on imported gas and fuel now we look for the answer to the third question, what role the common man can play in improving the economic situation My proposals in this regard are as follows:

(a) Prefer Pakistani products even at the cost of quality (b) if you own agricultural land never leave any idle in current circumstances leaving agricultural land idle is a national crime,

(c) Start kitchen gardening and save money for your home, it will also reduce the demand for imports, (d) if you have organic waste in your surroundings, install a biogas plant this can meet your gas and electricity needs in an environmentally friendly way (e) invest surplus money in some industry or agriculture instead of real estate and finally i request people to highlight the positive aspects of the institution, region and country you live in, and avoid promoting the negative aspects especially unconfirmed and funny memes, hurting the repute of your nation must be stopped By promoting a negative aspect, you are part of a crime of spreading a negative image of your country and if the content of such promotion is also false then you are guilty of the two crimes perjury and false promotion of the country

The writer is Associate Professor at the Kashmir Institute of Economics University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir

E d i t o r ’ s m a i l

S e n d y o u r l e t t e r s t o : L e t t e r s t o E d i t o r Pakistan today, 4 - S h a a re y F a t i m a J i n n a h L a h o re P a k i s t a n E - m a i l : l e t t e r s @ p a k i s t a n t o d a y c o m p k L e t t e r s s h o u l d b e a d d re s s e d t o Pakistan today e x c l u s i v e l y

Undue trappings of bureaucracy

economy in a modern society where Gender inequality is still a norm women are paid less than men for the same job even women don t get equal education opportunities a large number of women reside behind glass ceilings, deprived of maternal facilities and let them die Women s rights are highly undermined by male-dominated society where dominance and responsibility of society are beholden to men, turning the ever-growing society into modern dystopia Women and men usually take an equal start in their career but the problem starts when their childcare responsibilities come in their path and eventually initiates the claims of companies about pay gap among men and women and rise to its peak when absence due to maternity leave of up to six months comes no matter how much a woman thrive in her career; she couldn t get the post of manager or other posts alike even in schools, different subjects are assigned to girls and boys and boys can t be allowed to study home economics Similarly, in sports, girl’s colleges and schools get a small share of the budget, and are often excluded from participation in competitions the salaries of women in professional women’s sports teams are very low compared to men’s average now women of low-income countries where they are not permitted to work outside their homes have started working by operating a paving machine on a road inequality is an inevitable feature of our society that persists in the modern era whether it is gender inequality or inequalities in social class these inequalities had remained the part of old times and are still here to the present day, yet don t seem to be changing soon, even though the government is still claiming that it has already uprooted such stereotypes and social class discrimination Society tends to overcome inequality based on gender race and other social characteristics Furthermore the government is trying hard to make advancement in its legislative frameworks and subsidizes low social class businessmen or poor people they let their people believe that racial discrimination no longer impedes or affects the development of minorities For this our attitude must incline towards solidarity and building a better future for children

The writer can be reached at attiabutt121@gmail com and tweets t h e indian subcontinent inherited a system of governance from the colonial British empire it was a brilliantly designed system fulfilling the needs desires whims and fancies of the rulers it had some provisions for the wellbeing of the people as well but that was more in the spirit of keeping things below the boiling point it was never meant to fulfil the aspirations of the locals Pretty much the same can be said about our own system of governance that is led and sustained by the bureaucracy as was the case during the colonial period the civil services were at the helm of driving the system and still hold that position the attitude inculcated by the empire to serve its ends has survived and has ironically strengthened in civilian matters, they enjoy complete freedom and no one has any sort of check on them the politicians, who are supposed to keep them in check, have other priorities as they are elected for a limited period and they have the desire to make the most of that limited and often uncertain period in such circumstances the bureaucracy enjoys complete impunity from any sort of oversight or constructive interference in the affairs that are entrusted to them a glaring example of such measures is the executive allowance after the 18th amendment the provincial bureaucracy got a free hand to tinker with the system the cash-strapped province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was the first to approve the executive allowance of 150 per cent of basic pay to Provincial Management Services (PMS) officers after a little while, being in a state of bankruptcy, the KP bureaucracy turned it to the running basic pay the rest of the provinces followed suit, and now all of them are getting executive allowance which is worth more than their basic pay Similarly, gas-guzzling vehicles, armed escorts, free gasoline are the hallmark of our bureaucracy this naturally is a great burden on the provinces which are happy to bear it with a grin as the country clearly has numerous resources that can be tapped to provide the bureaucrats the trappings that are so dear to them the state of Pakistan is already in a state of undeclared bankruptcy the disgusting system of civil services which we inherited from the colonial masters needs to be thrown out But instead it is cherished and even facilitated by the state the disparity in the salaries of the rest of the public servants has caused a great disconnect if reforms are not carried out urgently unrest is sure to follow and all of us should brace ourselves for the next episode to unfold HAIDER ALI PESHAWAR

Glorified inanities

u n d o u B t e d ly, Pakistan has enormous talent, but these days, talent does not get more recognition than several other elements in Pakistan, it takes nothing but some inanity that takes one to glory and fame in the blink of an eye the video of a ‘dancing girl’ recently doing rounds on social media is a case in point the girl is believed to have made a lot of money after the video went viral She rose to such fame that she is being invited to appear in morning television shows in contrast Waleed Malik a medical graduate who received 29 gold medals because of his outstanding academic performance did not get the appreciation he truly deserved he was not invited to any morning show and hardly received any monetary incentive worth his achievement this encourages our youth to avoid hard-work and go for shortcuts in search of fame and fortune without having to do much our social norms have sunk to sordid depths the way we have lost our moral compass is just abysmal this is a sad reflection on society Social media can play a pivotal role in bringing actually deserving people to the limelight who believe in hardwork and make the nation proud with their achievements through their talent and hard-work it can tell the impressionable minds that there is actually no substitute for hard-work