Sunday 22 April 2012

Major Problems Facing Pakistan Today SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ISSUES



Introduction:
Pakistan was established in 1947 and since its inception, it has been surrounded by countless issues including but not limited to ill-formed/missing infrastructure, insufficient refined resources, barren or obsolete factories and technologies, imposed conflicts at Kashmir and other fronts and an ever-ready enemy to underscore all the efforts towards progress. Despite it being rich on raw resources thus far Pakistan is a developing country with limited development in every era due to the problems it faces. In the following text we will shed some light on some of the major problems faced today by Pakistan as a country.


POVERTY:

According to an analysis conducted by the government of Pakistan and published at hec. Gov .pk(the higher education commission of Pakistan) shows that the poverty has increased roughly from 30% to 40% during the past decade. Consider that if 40%of a country’s population is earning their life below the poverty-line in which the people are deprived of basic necessities of life such as clothing, shelter,food, education and medication, such families and their children will be forced to think of their survival only.


ILLITERACY:

Literacy is defined as persons aged 15 or above who can “read” and “write”.According to this definition, Pakistanis officially reported to have 50% literacy rate. Which means half of its population is illiterate. With such family backgrounds, inflation, poverty and child labor this rate is expected to increase in future. Even for those who are termed as “Literate” are only able to read and write, which in today’s technology oriented world is still considered as illiteracy. Majority of the people forming the top controlling tier is almost unaware of technologies and technical mindset. Thus, causing the country to adopt the new technologies at a snail’s speed.


CORRUPTION AND POLITICAL INSTABILITY:

Pakistan is suffering from a fatal problem known as “Establishment”. Every vital department in Pakistan is controlled by the so called “Establishment”. Establishment is a network of key positions in almost all the departments in the country. This network provides support and safe backing to their “touts” to ensure that they remain in control. The roots of this establishment may very well be deep inside underworld and secret agencies of the dominating nations.
It is interesting to note that due to the international interference and manipulation the very same people that we label as corrupt just sometime ago, blame and rebuke, come back to govern us after a couple of years again and people welcome them with open arms. A common English saying goes as “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me”.
This is probably also the main reason why the political process in Pakistan is not let to prosper. Soon after its inception the sincere and loyal politicians were removed from the main stream and only dummy agents and rubber stamps are put in place, while all the decisions are made outside the country.


INTERNATIONAL INTERFERENCE:

India is typically termed as a conventional enemy to Pakistan. As mentioned before the people of Pakistan need to be trained to think positively about their surroundings. We should learn a lesson from US and Canada’s cross border collaboration to improve their affairs and provide backing, why can’t Pakistan and India enter into such strengthening relationship?
Pakistan can never move forward with its proxy war politics with India and its involvement in the so-called US War on terrorism. It has to strike peace with India and other neighboring countries soon so that it can use its resources for its own people's welfare and focus on its collective objectives.
Pakistan has more potential to be a developed country earlier than India. It has the resources and talent.yet it seems to sink lower by the day. India with a billion plus population has a million problems to handle. Yet the focus of India has been right and it shows in its 8% economic growth. Its time Pakistan learns this lesson and corrects its focus.


TERRORISM AND RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM:

The whole world looks at Pakistan,as a land of terrorists. Main reason being an exploitation through the religious leaders and reaction of the military operations both internally as well as externally. China is getting 13 billion dollars as foreign investment because of its stable and investor-friendly environment where as even tourists are afraid to visit Pakistan due to the security concerns.

Even smaller countries like Romania and Philippines are getting a lot of foreign investments.
There needs to be a big shift in the mind set. Pakistani people should move away from the clutches of the religious fanatics and must realize what is best for them and their country.


OVERPOPULATION, INFLATION, UNEMPLOYMENT:

According to official Pakistani sites (actual figures may be well above the officially reported facts), the country has an estimated 2% growth rate which for a country of official population of 160 Million turns out to be roughly around3.2 Million every year.

This alarming growth rate is causing immense pressure on head of the families who are to support them.

Given that about 40% of the population is already living under poverty line and 5.6% (official figures) of the population is unemployed, the ever growing population of Pakistan is just adding to the problems of the already under pressure nation.


Pakistan has a fast developing economy which is making its middle class grow swiftly. This is creating more need for energy, food and homes and the prices of these things are gigantic nowadays.
Also with the internationally growing oil prices are causing every item in the country to doubled (and in some cases tripled) every year.

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