Whos to blame for poor man woes?

Recent opinion polls conducted by Gallup Pakistan demand attention. A little more than a third of the population complained that there have been days in the past one year when they could not afford to buy food to feed their family or themselves.
In another disturbing find, some three-fourth of the population said it is difficult to find affordable housing in the city or area, where they live.
And looking at the way cotton prices have been soaring leaps and bounds in the local market, with the government and the so-called textile elders body failing to clear up the ongoing cotton mess, cloth might become costlier pretty soon.
Aside from expressing frustration over finding roti, kapra, makaan (bread, cloth housing) some 83 percent of Pakistanis are dissatisfied with the governments efforts to increase employment opportunities, according to a separate poll by the same entity.
These opinions smack the governments widely touted two year performance report and the recently announced labour policy, when in fact there is little evidence to believe that the previous increase in minimum wages was duly implemented.
At the moment the federal government is unable to advertise its latest measures, no thanks to the Rs900 million payment default; accrued on newspaper advertisements. But even if they could advertise, there is little chance that the government could make the masses believe.
This is because of billions worth of financial irregularities unearthed by the Auditor General of Pakistan.
Sources in the Public Account Committee told BR Research, that about Rs44 billion worth of irregularities were found in FBRs head of direct taxes for the fiscal year 2009, let alone indirect taxes and other levies.
Similar anomalies have been detected in other government departments and ministries. "We are yet to pore over the whole set of reports, but the aggregate amount easily runs over Rs200 billion," sources said, which in other words means roughly a little over $2 billion.
The AGs report for the year 2008-09 is currently under scrutiny by the PAC, and it is too early to comment on the exact nature of irregularities.
But one thing is for sure: even if the quantum of irregularities was half the size currently reported, the governments fiscal gap would have been lower, PSDP might not have been cut, external reliance could have been reduced, and above all, consumers could have been provided the basic amenities.

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JUDGMENT CALL

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                                                    Yes       No       NR

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Is government making enough efforts to

increase the number and quality of jobs?            16%      83%       1%

During the last one year have there been

times when you did not have enough money

to buy food that you or your family needed?         31%      69%        -

                                                Difficult    Easy      NR

In the city or area where you live,

is it easy or difficult to find a good

and affordable house.                               74%      24%       2%

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Source: Gallup Pakistan