The week in focus

Experts come out with a host of proposals in the face of a report that Pakistan has lost millions of jobs.

Economists and experts have come out with a host of proposals in the face of a report that Pakistan has lost millions of jobs and sources of livelihood because of the floods that started playing havoc more than a month ago.

They alerted the government after the International Labour Organisation (ILO), in a report released about a week ago, warned that 5.3 million jobs have either been lost or affected in Pakistan in the floods that swept through the country destroying everything that came their way.

According to estimates, the agriculture sector has been hit the hardest as around 4.25 million acres sown with different crops have been damaged.

“Top priority should be accorded to the repair and reconstruction of roads, bridges and highways,” said AB Shahid, an economist. The revival of road links will not only provide farmers access to agriculture markets in urban areas but will also create a number of construction-related jobs and increase the demand for raw materials.

He said several villages in Sindh and Punjab have been completely wiped out, prompting the need for demarcation of farmland to help the farmers rebuild their lives. However, demarcation of agricultural land may not be an easy task with fears that big landlords may try to grab prime pieces.

Moreover, Shahid said that floodwaters should be drained immediately and fresh water supplied through canals to the farmers that will help them cultivate crops swiftly.

Unemployment is already high in Pakistan and the credibility of official figures is often questioned. In the words of economist Shahid Hasan Siddiqui: “10 million rural women who take food for male members of their family working on farms, only helping in their work, are also counted as employed by the government.”

Quoting a World Food Programme report, Siddiqui said Pakistan has been categorised as a ‘hungry country’. “Millions do not get two meals a day.”

Coping with joblessness

According to the Economic Survey released by the government in June, the labour force was estimated at 53.72 million in 2008-09 out of a population of 170 million. Of the labour force, 50.79 million were employed while 2.93 million were unemployed, resulting in an unemployment rate of 5.5 per cent.

Siddiqui suggested doling out microfinance loans ranging from Rs25,000 to Rs50,000 to flood-hit farmers, shopkeepers, small traders and businessmen. Besides, provision of machinery and imparting vocational training will also help the unemployed revive their lives.

In a novel proposal, Siddiqui called on businessmen to set up small industries and make the unemployed shareholders in the concerns which will inculcate a sense of responsibility in them.

Head of Research InvestCap, Khurram Shehzad, emphasised on the need to prioritise the rebuilding of lost infrastructure and houses that will create opportunities of employment in a large number of industries from brick-making to cement and steel manufacturing. Local people should be given preference in job offers.

Shehzad was of the view that Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) funds should be channelled to the flood victims. Moreover, the 50 per cent increase in salaries of government employees as well as enhancement in their medical allowances, announced in the budget for 2010-11, should be diverted to those deprived of their livelihood.

the writer is incharge Business desk for the Express tribune

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th, 2010.