hadim is a security guard for a school in Islamabad. He started working there in 2015. He receives a monthly salary of only Rs 18,000. “I am a contract worker; I am not a permanent employee. When I started working here eight years ago, I was promised that I would soon be made permanent. That never happened. We do not get a pay raise like most government employees, but we do deserve at least the minimum wage. We [contractual workers] were all delighted when it was announced last year that the minimum pay was being raised to Rs 25,000. We thought that we will get at least Rs 25,000. That, too, never happened. Now, we’ve heard that the minimum wage has been set at Rs 32,000 in the new budget. We could care less because we know we won’t be receiving this.” Khadim says that in addition to the support staff, there are teachers in the school who have been employed on a contract basis and do not receive the minimum legal wage.

The minimum wage has been raised to Rs 32,000 in the recently announced budget for 2023-2024. However, the announcement has not made the workers happy or hopeful about the future. Thousands of workers, including Khadim, are not even receiving the Rs 25,000 minimum wage that was set the previous year. Pakistan is one of the top 10 countries in the world in terms of labour force strength, according to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2022-2023. Estimates place the country’s labour force at about 75 million, with agriculture accounting for 44 percent of the workforce, industry for 22 percent, and services for 34 percent. According to the World Bank’s Pakistan Human Capital Review 2022 report, 94.9 percent of wage workers lack a formal employment agreement. Male workers who are employed informally make up 83 percent of all wage workers and female employees 12 percent. The fact that a sizeable portion of the labour force, particularly some in the hardest jobs, does not even have access to minimum wage, is cause for grave concern.

For the fiscal year 2023-2024, the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) budget, which falls under the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, has been raised from Rs 404 billion to Rs 455 billion. The initiation of this unconditional cash transfers programme was a huge step in the right direction towards reducing poverty. But given the country’s economic crisis, the effects of climate change and high inflation, its coverage and adequacy need to be reviewed. For instance, under the BISP, the beneficiary receives Rs 8,500 every three months. Pakistan is currently experiencing its greatest rates of inflation in the last 50 years and prices for staple foods have increased significantly. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the consumer price index for the month of May 2023 rose to 37.97 percent over May 2022. Prices for staple foods have risen by more than 100 percent in the past year, like tea (112.18 percent), potatoes (108.17 percent), wheat flour (99.02 percent), eggs (90.27 percent), rice (85.18 percent), pulse mash (58.24 percent), sugar (41.1 percent), fresh milk (37.69 percent) and chicken (36.18 percent). The impact of inflation has extended beyond just food goods; it also has a significant effect on non-food items such as textbooks (113.98 percent), stationery (79.38 percent), motor fuel (69.9 percent), washing soap/ detergents, match boxes (63.7 percent), gas charges (62.82 percent) and electricity charges (59.28 percent). Therefore, the adequacy of the BISP money, of Rs 8,500 that the beneficiary receives after three months, has been put to question.

Additionally, since Covid-19 had already had an impact on the people, the effects of the floods in 2022 have worsened their vulnerability. Together, these factors contributed to unemployment and poverty. More than 100 million Pakistanis are thought to have fallen below the poverty line as a result of this. Therefore, it is important to review BISP’s coverage.

Families have been frequently compelled to reallocate resources away from health and education in order to cope with the adverse impacts of Covid-19 and floods 2022, hence shifting to lower-quality food, which leads to a less varied diet and nutrient deficiencies. Across the life cycle, these coping approaches have long-lasting effects on health, education, and labour outcomes, frequently having the most negative effects on children. Malnutrition is among the most serious issues brought on by the growing poverty. One of Pakistan’s largest problems is malnutrition. In Pakistan, almost 40 percent of children under the age of 5 are stunted, which leads to physical and mental impairments for the rest of their lives. Moreover, infant mortality before the age of five is 7 percent. Health difficulties and issues are not the only ones caused by poverty; education is the next significant area that is impacted. Pakistan has one of the highest percentages of children worldwide who are not attending school. In the country, it is estimated that 20.3 million children between the ages of 5 and 16 do not attend school.

The consequences of climate change have had an impact on Pakistan, particularly on the agriculture sector and farmers. After the devastation of floods in 2022, the harvests of wheat, mangoes and cotton have suffered as a result of off-season rainfall this year. These impacts of climate change on agriculture are expected to persist. As a large portion of the population depends on agriculture, which employs 44 percent of the workforce, this will exacerbate poverty and other vulnerabilities.

In order to ensure that the relief measures that have been announced are translated into tangible implementation, the government must think creatively and avoid using a traditional approach when designing the budget. However, priorities must be established and addressing the climate should be a top priority.

The writer is a communications specialist and a freelance writer. He is based in Rawalpindi and can be reached at qureshiwaqas@gmail.com. He tweets @qureshiwaqasAs