Thursday, December 04, 2008

PAKISTAN : IMPOVERISHMENT

"In the last 30 years, we have not invested in our infrastructure, both physical and human. A lot of our infrastructure is non-productive and is falling apart. The basic problem is that the economy is not producing what it ought to. Our annual food production growth rate is one per cent, population is growing at 2.5 per cent per annum, so shortages are bound to occur," he said. Bengali believes that the Benazir Income Support Program would enable the poorest segment of the society, that earns Rs 5,000 per month, to boost its income by 20 per cent. He dismisses the notion that the bulk of the money earmarked for the scheme would be appropriated by a bureaucracy that is corrupt to the core.

"The money will be directly transferred from the ministry of finance to beneficiaries through an electronic postal system," he argues. About 3.5 million people would benefit from the scheme.However, given the track record of Pakistan, one could hardly believe that the bulk of the amount earmarked for families living below the poverty line would not be misappropriated by a corrupt bureaucracy working under still more corrupt ministers.....Continue