POVERTY ERADICATION NEEDS SERIOUS AGENDA…..UNISAME

The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) held a meeting at a local club to commemorate 17th October the international day for eradication of poverty and passed a unanimous resolution for the uplift of the marginalized sector.

President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver welcomed the participants and emphasized the need for poverty alleviation with the help and support of all classes of people of society. The government, the well to do, the employers and the philanthropist have to participate in poverty alleviation he emphasized. The government needs to promote the SME sector which can create employment and promotes self employment.

Thaver said unfortunately the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer due to the kleptomaniacs who are greedy and amassing wealth without caring for the betterment of the masses. Instead of putting their wealth for promotion of industries in Pakistan they are keeping their wealth in foreign countries.

He said Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri have been talking about corruption since few months but he is on record for having spoken about corruption and kleptocracy since last few years. The elected members are not the representatives of the majority. The elected members are the feudal lords, the big industrialist and very rich politicians. Most of them own sugar mills, rice mills and have thousands of acres of lands. Some of them have dual nationalities and enjoy the luxuries of travel and shopping abroad. Their children get education from abroad. In no way do they represent the poor majority.

Actually what Pakistan has is not democracy but kleptocracy wherein the rich minority is ruling the poor majority. The ruling class is involved in corruption and greediness and huge amount of money is siphoned out from project funds. Projects signed by the rulers enables them to earn kick backs.
The price is exaggerated and the expenditure on infrastructure is over subscribed by the kleptomaniacs.

Huge amounts are spent on elections which are later recovered by various means. There is corruption in government hospitals, schools, municipalities, provincial departments and federal departments controlling key revenue areas.

He pointed out that unless and until the government works seriously on poverty alleviation by creating jobs for the under privileged, giving them quality education free of charge, educates them on developing skills and promotes the cottage and home based industries from grass root level nothing can be achieved.

It is very important that the primary sector of the economy which comprises of the people working in the fields for the landlords are looked after by the employers and their welfare is made obligatory on the employers nothing will change. It is indeed a very pitiable sight to see the field workers working very hard for long hours on meager wages and they can hardly plan for their children’s future nor give them education and medical care in the insufficient income.

It is very important that the government focuses on fair wages, education, medical benefits and vocational guidance for the skilled and unskilled labourers. It is suggested that proper records must be kept of every worker to ensure that no worker is victimized by the employer.

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