Speakers stress need to build economy for benefit of commoners

Speakers at a seminar on equality and human economy have stressed the need to build human economy for benefit of a common man.
The seminar was jointly organised by Indus Consortium and Rise for Equality. Small/women farmers from rural areas of Leyyah, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh and Multan were also present there to share real life experiences of bearing the brunt of taxation on household items, agriculture inputs and other essentials of daily life use.
Fiza Qureshi, Manager Programme Implementation Indus Consortium, gave a presentation on human economy while Jamshid Fareed, Executive Director HELP Foundation, highlighted the efforts to end inequalities. Prominent singer Jawad Ahmed discussed poverty situation in Pakistan.
Fiza Qureshi said that the world's biggest issue is economic inequality. Quoting reports of Oxfam and giving references of the World Bank and World Economic Forum, she said: "One out of 10 persons in the world still has to sleep hungry."
She said eight billionaires own the same wealth as the 3.6 billion poorest people have. She said the economic managers of various governments need to work for the poor, ignored and marginalized segments of the society. The governments need to cooperate for economic growth. She suggested that technology should be used to increase employment opportunities but not for curtailing jobs.
"By all measures we are living in the age of superrich, a second gilded age in which a glittering surface masks social problems and corruption. Oxfam's analysis of the superrich includes all those individuals with a net worth of at least one billion dollar.
Jamshid Fareed, Executive Director HELP Foundation, said that indirect taxes are unjust and unfair as the poor who have no taxable income are taxed at the same rate as the rich.
He said the prevailing regressive taxation needs transformation into progressive tax system. He said: "Current economy of the 1% in the world is built on set of false assumptions which lie behind many of the policies, investments and activities of the governments." Jawad Ahmed stressed the need for making well-planned efforts to remove the disparities causing inequality.
He urged the youth to focus on research work in various areas. He said the fabric of the society contains more than 43 million living under poverty line and another 45 million living at threshold level. Poor social indicators: 25 million children out of school, 4 $ spending on health per person, more than half of Pakistani population don't have access to toilets, about 11% don't have access to improved drinking water sources.