Crime and poverty

That there is a link between poverty and crime is a well-known fact, which has now been confirmed by the Human Rights Ministry in a survey report for 2011 presented to the Parliament. Attributing a significant jump in human rights violations to poverty and a widening gap between the rich and poor, the report notes that "essential commodities and necessities of everyday life have gotten beyond the reach of the common man and, at times, are hardly accessible to the middle-class." An increasing number of suicides reported by the press show, according to the ministry, that most of these cases are the outcome of severe economic deprivation. Unemployment has "caused a high degree of frustration amongst the youth." In a further elaboration of the problem, the human rights ministry says that "the gap between the elite, ultra rich, prosperous business class and the middle and lower-middle classes along with a large majority living below the poverty line is so wide that it cannot be filled by ordinary measures," but stops short of making specific recommendations. Instead it offers a general yet impassioned observation that "very strong revolutionary steps" are required to address the situation. A simple and effective step, which perhaps could qualify to be termed as revolutionary in this country's context, would be to increase revenue collection by enhancing the tax-to-GDP ratio from the current dismal rate of under 9 percent to at least double that amount. The tax net needs to be extended to the rich and powerful sections of society. As it is, poverty is rampant in the rural areas while provincial governments continue to drag their feet on collecting income tax from wealthy landowners. Similarly, in the urban areas, a large part of a flourishing retail sector remains unregistered and hence outside the tax net. These sectors must pay their dues to the state so it can fulfil its responsibilities towards less fortunate sections of society. The key to poverty alleviation and narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor is employment generation. As the old saying goes, give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. First of all, the government must do all it takes to address the energy crisis so that the wheels of industry keep moving. Secondly, instead of spending money on dole outs such as the Benazir Income Support Scheme that are also prone to corruption, the government must focus on job creation programmes. Sindh and Punjab governments have introduced their respective micro-credit schemes, which can be expected to yield positive results. But they cover a minuscule section of the population. Attention also ought to be given to invigorate the labour-intensive small and medium enterprises through easy access to bank loans and other measures. Copyright Business Recorder, 2012