Deep gaps revealed in housing, livelihoods, health, education despite higher provincial revenues
ISLAMABAD:
The government on Monday unveiled an “eye-opening” report revealing that human development was mainly centered on Punjab, which has no districts classified as most vulnerable, unlike Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the provinces with the highest levels of vulnerability and unemployment.
The report’s findings emphasize that there was an urgent need to transfer the economic resources directly to the districts, as the current arrangement of strong control of the provincial capitals on the resources increased the share of the vulnerable population.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Climate Minister Dr. Musadaq Malik launched the UK-funded District Vulnerability Index for Pakistan (DVIP). The report revealed that most districts in the highest vulnerability quintile are in Balochistan, while the least vulnerable are in Punjab.
The findings call into question the use of the trillions of rupees in additional financial resources that were given to the provinces under the Seventh National Finance Commission (NFC). All provinces are cash rich and invest their excess cash in the federal government debt instead of spending on their people.
The report is based on six different domains of housing, communication, transport, livelihood, access to health services, access to education and demographics. Developed by the Pakistan Population Council, the index measures districts’ exposure to social, economic and environmental risks.
Even better-performing districts, the report notes, reveal systemic weaknesses nationwide. Dr. Malik said nearly 10 million or 11.3% Pakistanis live in the 20 most vulnerable districts. About 2 million of them are women of childbearing age, and a similar number are children under 5 years of age. More than half of the most vulnerable population lives in Balochistan – more than 40% of the province’s population.
The deep study aims to address the gaps by developing an index that incorporates vulnerability domains that are typically under-reported in analysis in Pakistan. The index builds on the established social vulnerability indices and adapts their framework to Pakistan’s district-level context.
Among the 20 least vulnerable districts, 13 are in Punjab, four in Sindh, two in KP and none in Balochistan. In contrast, the most vulnerable category includes two former FATA districts in KP, only one in Sindh, none in Punjab and an alarming 17 in Balochistan.
“With population growth at 2.55%, the highest in the region, pressure is building on all stakeholders to take decisive action,” said Dr. Imtiaz Ahamd, Chief Economist of Pakistan. He said that the least vulnerable districts are those that are connected via the infrastructure with the rest of the country.
The five least vulnerable districts in the country are the four urban districts of Karachi, followed by Lahore. But the five most vulnerable districts include Washuk, Khuzdar, Kohlu and Zohb in Balochistan and Kohistan in KP.
The most vulnerable districts are: Washuk, Khuzdar, Kohistan, Zhob, Kohlu, Musakhel, Dera Bugti, Killa Saifullah, Kalat, Tharparkar, Seerani, Jhal Magsi, Nasirabad, Chagai, Barkhan, Harani, Awaran, Kharan, North Waziristan and Panjgur.
“Even the best districts do not have a good status and the worst is that 17 out of the 20 most vulnerable districts are in Balochistan,” said Dr. Malik.
The housing domain is based on the indicators of percentage of mud houses, no toilet facilities, poor sources of drinking water and dwellings with only one room. In the 20 worst performing districts on housing, over 65% of the population live in makeshift buildings, half lack toilet facilities and 40% have no access to improved water facilities, according to the report.
Dr. Highlighting the country’s growing inequalities in access to clean water, education and safe housing, Malik called for urgent national attention.
“The report reveals a deeply uncomfortable truth about basic public services,” he said. “We have never really asked why access to clean water remains so difficult. Clean water, education and safe housing are not conveniences, but fundamental rights”, said the climate minister.
The transport domain is based on the villages’ average distance to metalled roads and to a transport facility. The report stated that many contiguous districts severely lack adequate access to roads, transport or telephone services within accessible distances.
In the area of livelihood – based on the indicators of dependence on agriculture, unpaid family workers and unemployment rate – 15 of the 20 lowest ranked districts are in Balochistan. KP and Balochistan also have the highest unemployment rate and the largest share of unpaid family workers, reflecting fragile and insecure livelihoods.
What could be the reason for the greatest vulnerability, both KP and Balochistan are worst affected by the war on terrorism.
Aurangzeb highlighted that the effects of high population growth were reflected in persistent human development challenges, including childhood stunting, learning poverty and a workforce that was inadequately equipped for the future.
Climate change continues to expose communities to extreme temperatures, floods, droughts and environmental degradation, with the most severe effects on districts already struggling with poverty, weak infrastructure and limited access to essential services, the finance minister said.
The report stated that both KP and Balochistan also stand out as more vulnerable in the access to health domain with lower accessibility to health facilities and limited access to community health. There were also large differences in health access between districts in these two provinces.
The educational domain is also based on distances from the educational facilities. The report stated that Karachi stands out as having the highest density of primary and secondary schools, although this may be partly due to its high population density.
The most vulnerable districts are concentrated in Balochistan, where low school density and long travel distances are likely to be exacerbated by vulnerability in the transport domain.
