Targeting poverty in Pakistan through Chinese model of poverty eradication.

Byline: UROOJ AIJAZ

The primary goal of the global agenda for sustainable development is the decrease of poverty but developing cost-effective poverty reduction programs and safety nets, the identification of the poor and the assessment of the severity of poverty are the matter of concern for every developing nation which require accurate determination of poverty resulted in the form of effective and significant policy impact while in Pakistan, one of the variables used to calculate each province's share of the federal allocations sent to the provinces through the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award is poverty.

Numerous efforts are taken to estimate poverty and poverty lines in Pakistan. Recently, the government adopted the Cost of Basic Needs (CBN) method, a one-dimensional technique, to gauge poverty. The CBN method estimates that in Pakistan, 24.3% of the population is considered to be living in poverty. Pakistan also use the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which is based on factors of living standards, health, and education. Approximately 39% of Pakistanis experience many forms of poverty.

For economic and social wellbeing of any country, it is mandatory to pull people out of poverty so, Governments always striving hard to exterminate the multidimensional poverty either directly through creating job opportunities or indirectly through providing people with basic health and education facilities. Projects like Five million low-cost housing units, employment, industrial subsidies, and institutional reforms in the health and education sectors are a few initiatives taken by the state to lessen the threat of poverty. The goal of all these advances is to raise the living conditions of the underprivileged but Pakistan need targeted programs to confront the current multifaceted poverty which demand understanding of the Chinese approach of poverty eradication that focus on the effective use of the limited resources available.

China's anti-poverty program was tailored to the needs of the impoverished in both the rural and urban areas individually. In order to get immediate results, urban administration used focused strategies, where rural programs were mostly funded by the federal government. Poor people who lacked a reliable source of income, lacking abilities to work, and have no guardian were taken into consideration under this scheme. Subsequently, this initiative was expanded to help the underprivileged with health and educational issues. Also, numerous employment were given to the impoverished by rural or urban authorities so they could support...