PESHAWAR: In a foggy morning, Zakir Khan, an impoverished fruit seller, starts his rickshaw journey from his mud house in the outskirts of the provincial metropolitan to Peshawar\u2019s fruit market hoping to purchase apples, guavas, bananas, and other fruits on reasonable rate to support his eight- member family. Assisted by his son Asadullah Khan, the 65-year-old vendor, donned in traditional attire \u2013 woolen Chadar and Chitrali cap, starts his day with Fajr prayer and after having breakfast, rushes to Chamkani fruit market in Peshawar expecting to get fresh fruits through open auction on reasonable prices and anticipates a profitable sale in the local market. After purchasing fruits, he unloads his fruits-packed rickshaw at his hand cart in Pabbi fruits market at Nowshera after covering 15-kilometer distance from Peshawar and working till night. \u201cI have been associated with the painstaking fruit seller business since my childhood and recently my two sons Arifullah Khan and Asadullah Khan have started assisting me to sell all stock before night,\u201d he said. \u2018It is an extremely challenging business and sometimes he suffers financial losses in case fruits are not sold on time,\u2019 he said, adding that due to exorbitant prices of the fruits many customers just ask about prices of different fruits and return empty handed. DNA
\n\u201cLast year, citrus of Khanpur tehsil of Haripur and Manki Sharif of Nowshera districts was available at Rs180 per dozen that has now jumped to Rs 250 per dozen in local market with start of new year while apples per kg were sold at Rs 200 per last year against Rs 250 this year making difficult to continue this hard earned business due to discouraging response of consumers and poverty,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cI have come to purchase fruits for birthday party of my granddaughter, but the prices were sky-high this morning and will come again at night hoping for reduction of prices of apple, guava and banana to celebrate the event with great pomp and show,\u201d said Riazul Haq, a retired teacher while talking to media at Pabbi fruit market.
\nComplaining about soaring prices of fruits and vegetables with the start of the new year in the local market, he said that district administration failed to regularly check fruits prices at market and take strict action against price hikers and hoarders.
\n\u201cPoverty is the mother of all social ills including illiteracy, corruption, street crimes, drugs addiction and unemployment besides creating socio-economic imbalances in the society,\u201d said Professor Dr Muhamnad Naeem, former Chairman Economics Department, University of Peshawar.
\nHe said that thousands of youth were being graduated by the public and private sectors universities every year and could not find suitable jobs due to our outdated education system and lack of coordination between government departments, educational institutions and industries in terms of jobs creations, as result, increase in poverty ratio in recent years.
\nProfessor Naeem while quoting a World Bank report said that the poverty ratio has raised from 34.21 per cent in 2022 to 39.41 per cent in 2023, pushing 12.5 million people below poverty line. He said that Pakistan labour market was yet to recover fully from the 2022 devastated floods, COVID-19 pandemic and shabby economic situation and tough challenges were ahead of future government to tackle these issues on war footing basis.
\n\u201cThe 2022 floods had marred agriculture, tourism and livestock sectors besides affecting over 33 million people in all provinces including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and an additional nine million people were at risk of being pushed into poverty in Pakistan,\u201d he said.
\nDr Muhammad Naeem underscored the need for strict financial and fiscal policies besides reducing reduction of expenditure outlay of the budget at centre and provinces levels, reforms in tax structure by shifting reliance from indirect to direct taxes, pension system and increase in assistance of Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) to control poverty and unemployment in the country.
\nMs Javeera, spokesperson of BISP KP said that her organization was providing financial assistance to nearly 10 million deserving families through Benazir Kafalat Program. She said that children of these families were receiving education under Taleemi Wazif initiative besides pregnant and lactating mothers and infants of beneficiaries were being financially assisted to combat stunting and malnutrition.
\nShe also outlined the induction of a new poverty graduation program focusing on self-reliance of these poor families, technical education for their children, programs for orphans, widows and the creation of an endowment fund for the poorest of the poor.
\nMs Javera said that Rs 72 billion as quarterly installments of Rs 9000 per family for April-June 2023 were disbursed among eight million deserving beneficiaries till July 21, 2023.
\nKhushal Khattak, Program Manager, KP Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (KP-TEVTA) said that an agreement was inked with five paramedical institutions for socioeconomic empowerment and skills enhancement of youth of merged tribal districts.
\nAs per the agreement, he said that 360 students of merged tribal districts would be provided two-year professional educational training in nine different paramedical technologies enabling them to get a dignified job in the health sector.
\nHe said Rs500,000 to Rs five million soft loans were being provided to youth under Kamyab Jawan Program besides Rs 1 billion approved for provision of micro loans through Bank of Khyber to tribal youth.
\nKhushal said \u2018Skills for All\u2019 program was launched for promotion of technical education and vocational training while field internship programs along with Rs10,000 to Rs15,000 per month stipends were being provided to selected youth on merit.
\nHe said over 76 percent diploma holders of KP TEVTA have secured employment in different sectors including health.
\n\u201cTo alleviate poverty, the KP government has launched Khushal Pakhtunkhwa Program to generate employment opportunities for youth and make poverty alleviation program in line with the people\u2019s expectations.
\nUnder this landmark program, half million youth would be sent abroad for employment besides attention would be paid to information technology\u2019s courses according to the demands of the international market,\u201d said Feroz Jamal Kakakhel, KP Information and Tourism caretaker Minister.
\nBesides approval of Rs 218.7 million for de-worming initiative for school-age children of underprivileged families, he said scholarship and ETEA merit stipend programs were launched to provide better education opportunities to underprivileged children of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PESHAWAR: In a foggy morning, Zakir Khan, an impoverished fruit seller, starts his rickshaw journey from his mud house in the outskirts of the provincial metropolitan to Peshawar\u2019s fruit market hoping to purchase apples, guavas, bananas, and other fruits on reasonable rate to support his eight- member family. Assisted by his son Asadullah Khan, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-379346","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-peshawar"},"yoast_head":"\n