An omen of dangerous portents

At least 138 people, including 98 men and 40 women, committed suicide in the country in one month ie from December, 25, 2008 to January 26, 2009, according to the statistical data published by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. The ages of those who committed suicide ranged from 13 to 65 years, indicating prevalence of the trend across almost all age groups.
Another 78 cases were of attempted suicide during the period under review. The high number of suicides in just one month in the country, representing an increase of 21 over the 117 cases that took place in the corresponding period of the preceding month should give a serious cause of concern to the government. According to the breakdown given by HRCP, 29 people committed suicide because of their failure to find employment or on account of poverty, 32 shot themselves, while 54 people killed themselves by consuming poison.
If the increase in the number of suicides in just one month is extrapolated, it would indeed reflect a very worrying trend in the society at large. Poverty and general deprivation are said to be major causes of suicide in Pakistan, though depression occasioned by mounting socio-economic and personal worries is said to be one of the causes of the phenomenon.
According to one estimate, at least six to seven million households in Pakistan are in need of micro-credit for poverty alleviation through self-employment and other income-generating activities. Rural poverty has a close link with unequal land ownership and lack of access to land. The poor are the lowest earners per household, and the households depending on women's income are most likely to fall into the poverty trap, largely because of gender discrimination.
A World Bank study has found that around 56.2 percent of the Pakistanis run the risk of falling into the poverty trap. According to available data, 44 percent of the urban poor in Pakistan in 2007 were wage earners, 36 percent were self-employed, while 20 percent were under-employed. The poverty profile of Pakistan shows that poverty is more widespread among the rural population, and the groups that are likely to fall below the poverty line are landless agricultural labourers and casual workers.
In urban areas, people with assets valued at Rs 1,000 are categorised as poor. According to experts, a major factor affecting income distribution in the rural sector in the nature of agrarian structure: the land tenure system and the institutional climate. Another factor influencing income equality in rural areas is the technological change in agriculture. Viewed in the overall perspective, inflation can have a number of adverse consequences for the economy.
First, it erodes the purchasing power of the population, leading to a contraction in economic growth. Linked to it is the increase in macroeconomic instability as an inflationary environment generates many uncertainties. Secondly, inflation has a repressive impact on the poverty profile of a country. Frequent increases in overall prices hurt the poor more as the size of their consumption basket is significantly reduced due to inflation.
Thirdly, inflation can damage a country's competitiveness by leading to an appreciation of the local currency, and a consequent overvalued exchange rate, which can have a negative effect on exports, using the GDP as an indicator. With the overseas sale of goods falling, the authorities in Pakistan seem to be focusing on export of food-grain at the cost of the poor.
The problem in fact lies in a distorted supply chain, and not with the inadequate or insufficient availability of food items in the market. Price manipulation or insufficient availability of food items in the market is to blame for high food inflation. In 2007, the HRCP had recorded 2,040 suicide cases, including 692 by women.
Financial hardships and socio-economic causes have been mainly responsible for the increase in suicide rate in the country. Between January and May, 2008 there were 1,049 suicides, including 322 by women. Many analysts believe that the mounting number of suicide cases among women is due to rising frustration - lack of social progress is certainly a factor.
Family worries are also a leading cause of suicide among both men and women in Pakistan. The government can reverse the tragic trend by devoting greater budgetary allocations to the social sector, which has been a victim of gross neglect by successive governments.
Good governance implies a capacity to turn public income into human development outcomes. It is also an essential pre-condition for pro-poor growth as it establishes an enabling regulatory and legal framework, which is essential for a sound functioning of the system. The statistical data published by HRCP will hopefully prompt the government to initiate well-targeted corrective measures to reverse the trend.