Hammal Zahid
Balochistan is a province of Pakistan which is blessed with four seasons and its land is enriched with natural resources and minerals which is located in the southwestern region of the country which shares borders with Punjab and the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) in the northeast,Sindh to the southeast, The Arabian sea to the South,Iran to the west and Afghanistan to the North and Quetta its biggest capital city and a population of 13.16 million according to the census of 2011. But with no time,no a single moment ago,one could draw a comparison with the other provinces of Pakistan where millions of people slept hungry at night,but in Baluchistan where not a single person went to bed with an empty stomach . There are many core reasons which have resulted increasing poverty in Balochiatan. For instance, one of the main reasons can be unemployment in the state and those who are employed aren’t up to the standards so these unsatisfied employees consider themselves unemployed. And scarcity of jobs on the other hand has made the people of Baluchistan to suffer in various outcomes where skillful and smarts are jobless and find it very difficult to live in the harsh environment of the country and without earning a livelihood has increased the rate of poverty in Baluchistan. While I was in the main bazaar of Turbat city (Balochistan), I was confronted with a precarious sight I wouldn’t wish upon on anyone. I saw a starving or ill-Fed kid right on the other side of the road shambling and begging for food, aged 9 or 10 and his eyes seem glazed as if he was waiting to wake up from that melancholy nightmare. After that incident my heart crumpled up into pieces and tear shaded from my eyes. When I inquired why he was begging then he exclaimed with sorrow that he was a destitute boy suffering from one time meal and the unfortunate had a feeling that his loved ones have slipped away forever as they with no food and clothing to make themselves convenient and welcome whatever they get from the volunteers thanking them profusely and make their direct ways to beg .My conscience called me to help him by giving a fifty bill as I could. I will never forget the cold and stiff feelings of the little boy. Unfortunately, poverty is one of the flourishing concerns apart from the other major matters confronted by the people of Baluchistan day in and day out. According to Pakistan first ever Multidimensional Poverty Index(MPI) and by the relevant authorities reports that nearly 39 percent of Pakistan is below multidimensional poverty line with the highest rate in Baluchistan and the FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) which was launched on Monday (June 20, 2016).Reports say almost two-thirds of people in FATA(73pc) while Baluchistan (71pc)live in multidimensional poverty.On the other hand,some of the districts have increased multidimensional poverty like the districts of Umerkot, Harnai, Panjgur, Killa Abdullah and Kashmore have witnessed the highest in incidence of property and multidimensional poverty was the slowest in some of the districts of Baluchistan and Sindh over the past few decades.Poverty does is a alarming threat for the current and a future risk for Balochistan where scantiness of public services means that those living in slums do not have accesses to education and health services which both are their fundamental rights in a meaningful society.This can also deprive them to commit crimes and even be drug dealers or dope heads or druggie to fulfill their daily wishes and needs. According to the most recent estimates of the Food and Agriculture organization of the United Nations (FAO)the number of hungry people worldwide has reached 963 million, or roughly 15 percent of the estimated world population. And apart from this poor child there can be thousands of destitute kids suffering from the epidemic of poverty. But there is still hope in the heart of every Baloch that poverty which is expanding like an epidemic can be eradicated from its base provided that with the right polices and with the correct programs implemented in the right ways,these slums and every nook and corner of Pakistan can be transformed into thriving communities, that would take part in every hurdles of the Pakistani nation .And it can be uprooted only if all people come together at the national, provincial and local communities to transform these Slums into good-looking societies. Now it is our turn to put some of the contributions to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger which has etched the lives of the paupers into painful memories and it is true that the worst in humanity brings out the best in humanity and it’s amazing how tragedies can somehow bring out the purity in the world and prove that we all are”cells in the same body of humanity “. Poverty will not prevail in our society until deserving peoples are given their rights and this isn’t the Pakistan which the Quaid dreamt for where people die of starvation.
