Basic Roots of Poverty
Poverty is characterized as the state of being deprived of necessities to meet the basic needs. Poverty is increasing day by day. 40 percent of Pakistanis are living below the poverty line in the wake of covid-19. The factors that lead to poverty are:
Firstly, a miserable infrastructure is one of the key causes of poverty. Infrastructure includes roads, bridges, internet and transport systems which connect people to other services. it is not feasible to get to your work without a proper transport system. It takes much energy and time to get to your destination. Due to poor transportation, people are unable to do import and export. As a result, poverty further spreads in the country. On the other hand, having no access to internet connection, people can not get online job opportunities. Around 35 percent of people lack internet infrastructure.
Additionally, literacy rate and poor education system are two other causes of poverty. Education opens doors to job opportunities. Due to lack of knowledge, people have no skills in doing business and marketing. Especially in remote areas, people are jobless because of the lack of access to higher education so that they could proceed with their career and get jobs in future. In fact, 22 million children are out of schools, which results in poverty in the future. According to research, if all students in low-income countries could have basic reading skills, an estimated 171 million people could escape poverty. However, the youth, who are having their degrees, are also jobless due to lack of government policies.
Moreover, Corruption is another cause that contributes to poverty. It is very common in all aspects. Be it in education or business sectors. Because of corrupt officials, candidates who can not afford bribes are jobless and jobs are given to those who do not deserve. In addition, corruption slows down the process of development and increases the cost of production. The recent example is the sugar mafia that left a number of people a victim of poverty. According to the planning and development ministry, about 29.5% Lived below poverty that jumped to 55 million people. Because of corruption, the poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer.
According to Nobel prize winner South African leader, Nelson Mandela, “poverty is not natural, it is man-made”. It is true that poverty is generally man-made. There are many causes of poverty but one of the major causes of poverty is overpopulation that pushes people below the poverty line. The sharp increase in population leads to an increased demand for jobs that the government is finding it difficult to provide to the rising population. it is not feasible for an underdeveloped country to provide jobs to the overpopulated population. Apart from that, because of rising population, urbanization occurs that results in climate change. Consequently, natural disasters strike, leaving poor without shelter and food. And mostly in urban areas, people are dependent on agriculture. A flood or tsunami destroys the years of income in the blink of an eye. For instance, recent flood in Karachi and other areas caused a great loss in the country.
Poverty can be got rid of, if it’s basic roots are understood. It can be reduced if the rise of the population is decreased with the increase in job opportunities, eradicating corruption, plunging infrastructure is renovated and the literacy rate is increased. A country can never eliminate poverty until there is no equal distribution of wealth.