Abstract:
At the start of the 21st century, almost one-fifth of humanity-1.2
billion people-live on less than a dollar a day. Pakistan is confronted by a
multifaceted dilemma. The major issues facing the country are poverty and
income disparity, particularly among the rural segments of the society. And
evidence indicates that both have worsened. The impact of poverty is
particularly acute on the most vulnerable sections of the society. In the year
1990-91, 39.42 percent of the total 31.81 percent of the population below the
poverty line were termed as absolute poor including 34 percent chronically
and 61 percent extremely poor. During the last decade or so, nearly 2 million
people are added to the clusters of extremely poor, 5 million to chronically
poor, 7 million to transient poor. Thus bringing nearly 59.11 percent of the
poor population out of poverty is to a certain extent easier than bringing the
remaining 40.89 percent out of the poverty trap. Pakistan has witnessed a
decline in the growth rate from 6.1 per cent during the 1980s to 4.2 percent
during the 1990s. However, the Poverty Equivalent Growth Rate (PEGR)
analysis reported in this paper indicates that the pro-poor growth scenario is
improving in rural Pakistan. If growth remains pro-poor in the subsequent
years as it was in the year 2000-01, there is a likelihood that the growth will
trickle down to the poor more than the non-poor. Punjab province also
showed an improving trend in terms of pro-poor growth in the analysis. In
order to improve PEGR, the poverty alleviation policy must be accompanied
by rational income distribution.
