Last year the finance minister of Pakistan officially set the
minimum wage of an unskilled worker at 10,000 rupees per month. However, the
Supreme Court of Pakistan has recently noted that the standard in existence is
even lower: there are people who are on a salary of 7 to 9 thousand
rupees monthly. But when the scribe of this piece of writing interviewed a
worker at a hotel in Model Town, he revealed that other salaried employees
are paid 5 to 12 thousand per month. Not to talk of rural and domestic workers,
even urban are not protected by the minimum wage standard.
The vast swathes of the population are living in near or abject
poverty. More and more people are quietly slipping below the poverty line.
The greatest challenge such people are facing is making both ends meet. Their
lives centre on managing food, schooling, electricity and fuel. Most of them fight
against hunger and malnutrition in their lifespan. For them sparing
thoughts for an enviable future is allowable in just wild dreams.
Due to a total indifference to the needs of
the impoverished by those at the helm, the ranks of the poor are swelling with
every passing year. The posturing politicians and policymaking elites
display disregard for the welfare of the majority of the population. That is
why they come up with the legislation which can benefit them and their ilk to
the exclusion of all others. Reducing general poverty has never been high
on the agenda of any political party in the corridors of power. The
construction of new roads, putting more buses on the roads, initiating youth
business loan scheme are all useful steps, but none of them is meant to bring
advantage to the armies of workers who survive on the minimum wage.
Even the so-called middle class is just a relatively better-off
section of the society. They feel excruciatingly uncomfortable when the prices
of everyday essentials skyrocket. Even they struggle to pay their bills. Their
annual pay rise fails to match a high rate of inflation. Therefore,
their living standards too have plummeted.
Our state is unconcerned. The issue of economic failure concerns
the elected representatives only peripherally. They are not bestirring
themselves to give each citizen his or her due rights – the rights which are enshrined
in law. Article 38 of the Constitution terms the fulfilling of basic needs
of each individual the obligation of the state.
The government’s interest lies in pillorying the army and the implementation of Article 6; the common people have no concern whether the generalissimo is let off or penalized. All they crave is a financial status of sorts in society.
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