Under a news formula adopted by the government to measure poverty, nearly 60 million people are living below the poverty line in Pakistan, making almost one third of total population. Pakistan’s Planning Commission, estimates that adults in up to 7.6 million households are earning less than 3,030 rupees per month ($30), raising poverty levels to 29.5 percent from nine percent under former estimates. Government abandoned Food Energy Intake (FEI) model which was applied in 2001 and adopt incorporate Cost of Basic Needs (CBN) for capturing non-food expenditures which has become more important over time in Pakistan.
These recent poverty figures are out after the gab of nine years. Still there is room for betterment to have accuracy of data. It is hard to get actual data in case of delayed census, and fact is current population is based on estimates as country has not opted to go for census since 1998. To measure that how many people are living under the poverty line fist thing is to know that how many people are living in the country. Developed countries have updated the methods to measure poverty in their countries. Poverty of opportunities, powerlessness, and lack of say in decision-making and freedom of choices are considered different forms of poverty. If the estimates of government considered true, still it leaves government in a difficult situation to deal with the issue. Government needs to come up with revolutionary steps to decrease the poverty line in the country. The future looks grim if the government does not have a concrete plan to reduce poverty.
