INP
\nKARACHI
\nPresident Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) Mian Zahid Hussain has said it is good to see that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is taking some tangible steps to fulfill its promise of making Pakistan a poverty free country by following an example of the \u201cChinese\u201d model for the reduction of poverty.
\nIn a statement issued here on Wednesday, Mian Zahid Hussain said that the dramatic progress in reducing poverty over the past three decades in China is well known and according to the World Bank, more than 500 million people were lifted out of extreme poverty as China\u2019s poverty rate fell from 88 percent in 1981 to 6.5 percent in 2016, as measured by the percentage of people living on the equivalent of US$1.90 or less per day in 2015.
\nHe lauded the government\u2019s vision for the establishment of a new Ministry of Social Protection \/ Poverty Alleviation to address the current fragmentation.
\nThe Veteran Business Leader told the business community that various institutions likes the BISP, PBM, Zakat & Ushr Department would be working under that ministry, which would develop a one-window operation for social protection of the poor and to facilitate citizens.
\nHe said that the Prime Minister\u2019s promise to introduce a new constitutional amendment to move Article 38(d) from the \u201cPrinciples of Policy\u201d section to the \u201cFundamental Rights\u201d section shows the sincerity of government towards the eradication of poverty because this article right now suggests that food, clothing, shelter, health and education of the people should be considered when devising a policy.
\nBut after the proposed amendment these five things will become \u201cfundamental right\u201d instead of just a mere policy suggestion and the people of Pakistan will have a right to demand food, shelter, clothing, healthy living and education as their right which is promised by the constitution of Pakistan and this will also enable people to contest for the same against any incumbent government in the court of law, he added.
\nThe President PBIF expressed his relieve over the program\u2019s objective for the economic empowerment of the women through \u201cKafalat\u201d initiative that will be a subsidiary of existing Benazir Income Support Program.
\nUnder this program the government will provide rural women with buffalos, cows, goats and hens, which is a test method of poverty alleviation worldwide, he said adding that provision of goats could be both income generating and nutrition boosting. Similarly, he said a kitchen gardening initiative announced by the Premier to provide subsidized certified seed and seedlings to the farmer could produce a greater yield thus improving overall welfare of the people.
\nMian Zahid Hussain also welcomed the PM Imran Khan\u2019s plan to launch \u201cTahafuz\u201d program which is aimed towards the protection of individuals from catastrophic risks \u2013 a transparent and traceable digital system of cash transfers through which the government would give legal aid, education grants and health assistance to those without Insaf card entitlements.
\nHe said that Pakistan ranks 150 among the 189 countries on the Human Development Index, whereas other countries in the region like India ranks 130, Bangladesh at 136, Iran at 60 and China at 86th rank. Imran Khan\u2019s Ehsaas program and all its affiliated programs if carried out effectively and efficiently with the sincere will to up lift 39% of Pakistan\u2019s population who lives below poverty line and to bring about a positive change in their lives then no doubt it will help alleviate poverty and improve the UN\u2019s human development index rank and will go down in the annals of Pakistan\u2019s human development history as a great milestone towards becoming a welfare state.
\nThe President PBIF said that inflation rate was set to be 5.2 percent for the current fiscal year but it attained the five years\u2019 high to 9.4 percent given to USD appreciation, supplementary budget, and rise in petroleum. Increased inflation, reduction of Rs. 370 billion in FBR collection, increased mark up, reduced business activities are not only troubling the general public but the business community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INP KARACHI President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) Mian Zahid Hussain has said it is good to see that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is taking some tangible steps to fulfill its promise of making Pakistan a poverty free country by following an example of the \u201cChinese\u201d model for the reduction of poverty. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n