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A Scheme for the Development of an Integrated Poverty Alleviation Program for Thal and Bela of Punjab in Pakistan - 2007-12
Pakistan is a poor country in many terms. According to the statistics of the World Bank, 73.6% of the population in is below 2 dollar poverty line and 17% of the population is below 1 dollar poverty line in the year 2006. In , 32.6% of the population is also below the national poverty line too (GoP, 2002; UNDP, 2002). In terms of Human Poverty Index (HPI), is at 65 and in terms of Human Development Index (HDI), represents 134. Life expectancy at birth in is 63 and under-5 mortality is 103 for thousand births. Infant mortality is 81 for 1000 births in the year 2006. In addition, a significant proportion of population does not have access to basic services and opportunities that live mainly in rural areas. Rural population in is 65% in the year 2002 and 80% of ’s poor population (35 million) resides in rural areas. Poverty in is complex and difficult to be stratified or categorized simply. Within the country, there are great development disparities among regions, provinces and districts and even among Tehsils. For example, the richest provinces or districts contain the poorest Tehsils. All these vital statistics and indicators reveal that is severely affected by the problem of poverty and majority of the population in is vulnerable to economic, environmental and political shocks. (Web based statistic of World Bank, World Vision, Action Aid and UNDP).
Thal and Bella of Punjab Province
Punjab has important regional differences in living standards. The ranking of living standards, Poverty, and social indicators generally follows a North-South pattern in Punjab: income and non-income indicators of welfare are better in the North, followed by Central Punjab, and worst in South Punjab; likewise, poverty is lowest in the North and highest in the South of Punjab . Northern Punjab is more urban, and is characterized by more extensive links to urban non-farm labor markets; in contrast, farming predominates in Southern Punjab . A clear North-South ranking is encountered in many if not most social indicators: literacy, school enrollment, prevalence of sanitation and toilet facilities, and vulnerability to income shocks. A strategy of poverty reduction must lay significant emphasis on rural areas, and must incorporate a regional strategy that pays special attention to the southern districts of the province. Due to variations of the degrees of poverty within the Punjab province, there are very many marginalized communities in the province although it is relatively a rich province when compared to other provinces of the country. Thal and Bela are disaster prone, marginalized regions located in Punjab province. Practical Action has past experiences in working in these two areas under different project interventions. Based on the past experiences and the decisions made at strategic planning meetings, Thal and Bela were selected for the implementation of the regional program of Practical action for the period of 2007-12.
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