Karachi: The government has earmarked Rs838 billion for Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), while this amount should have been spent on new employment opportunities, said Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Altaf Shakoor on Sunday, adding that the rulers should focus on job creation and not on dole outs.
Altaf Shakoor said supporting the weaker segments of society is always welcome but the focus should be on empowering them and not making them beggars. He said the recent budget once again failed to empower the low income classes by creating more job opportunities for them.
He said all tax burden once again was put on the salaried and urban classes, while powerful landlords and retailers were spared even from due taxation. He said this government, like the previous ones, is bent on getting more loans from the IMF and other lenders, further tightening the debt trap. He said the rulers have enslaved Pakistan financially, and now about half of the total budget is being devoured by loans and their interest. He said only the bankers are being benefited by the government, adding this budget was also of the bankers, by the bankers and for the bankers.
He demanded a moratorium on new loans and passed legislation in this regard from the Parliament. He said Pakistan could not sustain more loans and the rulers should refrain from further increasing the debt burden.
He said agriculture and irrigation sectors should be given a serious focus, as they have a potential to create new jobs. He said millions of acres of the barren lands in Pakistan could be cultivated by modifying our irrigation system. He said drip irrigation should be made mandatory in Pakistan and the present mode of flood-irrigation should be banned to save water. He said saline water irrigation should be introduced in the coastal areas. He said arid and semi-arid regions should be cultivated through drip irrigation and other modern water saving methods.
Altaf Shakoor suggested that instead of BISP dole outs, the needy citizens should be provided a monthly jobless allowance or unemployment insurance. He said our focus should be on economic empowerment of the citizens by creating more and more job openings. He also demanded a universal social security for all Pakistani citizens.
Altaf Shakoor asked for a proportional representation (PR) electoral system in Pakistan to save the country from the rich political elite, who are looting this nation with both hands. He said electoral reforms are now overdue in Pakistan as the current electoral system has failed to deliver.
He said to provide food assistance to the poor classes, the government should revive the old ration card system. He regretted that the government has already closed the Utility Stores Corporation that was providing food items to the citizens on subsidised rates. He said this country is being run on the dictation of foreign lenders whose policies are always anti-people in their core.
He said the IMF programs have never saved any country, as these loans are designed to enslave nations economically. He asked to cap new loans and negotiate with the lenders to wave off or at least reduce interest on the present loans. He said instead of loans, grants should be secured from friendly countries to support the sagging economy. He said agriculture, solar energy, tourism and export of manpower are the sectors that could salvage the falling Pakistan economy.
He asked to overhaul the BISP and divert its fundings to job creation instead of dole outs. He said millions of young Pakistanis are jobless who should be absorbed in agriculture sector or manpower export on urgent basis