ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that political and economic stability are essential to reduce poverty in the country.
He said that poverty was the main and most important problem of developing countries as a large number of people were forced to live below the poverty line. He said poverty reduction was possible by paying special attention to the provision of basic facilities including education and health.
The speaker said in a statement on Tuesday that the poor condition of the global economy and inflation had further increased poverty in the world.
He said that according to statistics, extreme poverty had decreased to some extent in Pakistan in the last decades due to initiatives such as the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). He said the BISP for the downtrodden sections was no less than a blessing.
He said that opportunities for employment could be created by enhancing and promoting agriculture, industry, and IT sectors. He said “we should make efforts to ensure the provision of basic facilities to all the people living in the country so that they can lead a dignified life.”
The speaker said that in the last one and a half years the Parliament had taken many steps to achieve sustainable development goals including poverty reduction.
He said “with our joint efforts, Pakistan will soon become a prosperous, peaceful, and developed country.”
National Assembly Speaker Ashraf has paid tribute to the security forces for the successful operation against terrorists in North and South Waziristan.
The National Assembly speaker also paid homage to the soldiers, Sajid Azam and Waris Khan, who bravely fought against terrorists, and expressed his condolences and sympathy to the families of the martyrs.
The speaker said the entire nation stood with the security forces in the war against terrorism. He said that “anti-national evil elements” wanted to spread unrest in the country. He said the security forces were fully capable of dealing with terrorists with an iron hand and God willing they would end the scourge of terrorism soon.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023