Unemployment & its Solution in Pakistan

One of the most serious social & economic problems facing the country is unemployment. Honestly speaking, this problem exists in our country in an alarming degree. It is a fact that one person out of ten is out of work in Pakistan. It is a universal problem, even the most advanced & prosperous countries of the world like USA, Britain & Japan are confronted with this problem. As a matter of fact, it is impossible to provide jobs to all. The problem is serious in our country because we have unemployment among all the sections of our societyamong the educated & uneducated, among the skilled & unskilled. It is most unfortunate that highly qualified & professional persons like doctors, engineers & teachers are without jobs. It is painful to see them wandering from door to door in search of jobs. Many of them have gone abroad and are serving the people of other countries. It has undermined the economic, social & political stability of the country and is a great obstacle in the way of the progress & prosperity of the country. It is estimated that more than a million people are entering the market for jobs and only a very small percentage is absorbed. Keeping a very large population unemployed and idle is a matter of great concern. It is a great burden on society and is a breeding-ground for crimes, moral & social evils. The problem of unemployment & under-employment seems to have been there for a long time, but no exact estimate about the quantitative magnitude of the problem is available. In recent years, it has emerged as a major problem of the country. It perhaps for the first time our country has seen increasing number of suicides both by men and women, because of lingering unemployment resulting in despair. According to the Labour Force Survey (1996-97): Unemployment has doubled since 1986-87. According to recent official estimated some 2.4 millions people including children of 10 years & above, or 6.1% of the total labour force, were unemployed in 2001. The last Economic Survey (2000-2001) revealed that 1.5 million jobless were in rural areas & 0.9 million in urban areas. Of the total labour force of 39.4 million, 26.9 million or 68.2 % are based in rural areas & 12.5 million or 31.8 % in urban areas. The survey includes among unemployed people all those who are 10years of age and above who are not in paid or self-employment category or those available for either of the twoor seeking jobs. According to this definition about 2.4 million labour force is estimated to be unemployed in 2000 as compared to 2.3 million in 1999. The number of unemployed
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people in 1998 and in 1997 had also totaled 2.3 million, says the Survey. The officials claims that unemployment in Pakistan is only 6.1% and that too after a doubling of the level from 1986-87. This implies that we are claiming a lower unemployment rate than Europe where Euro Zone has 11% unemployment. But then when we have that kind of manipulated statistics which show any one who works for an hour a day as employed, and the bulk of the population in rural areas as agriculturally employed, we will have an employment rate of 6.1%, which had doubled within 10-years from an unrealistic 3%. The researchers in the private sector believe that currently the unemployment rate is around 10% and the underemployment rate could be b/w 15% and 40%. For any purposeful planning, it is essential that we have realistic statistics. We have to shift the focus of employment form the Government to the productive sectorsagricultural and industrial. In modern states, the government is not the primary employer. But in Pakistan, over 3.5 million people are employed by the government on federal, provincial and local levels. It is because productive sector has not been expanded to provide employment equal to government sector. When the productive sector expands, the service sector will grow, as a result exports will increase and the unemployed will be observed. Besides the problem of unemployment, the problem of under-employment is also quite acute in Pakistan which needs to be solved. Unemployment whether of a permanent or temporary nature has many adverse effects which are briefly discussed as under: a). The unemployment whether of a seasonal or permanent nature undermines the life organization of a worker. The unemployed person faces a discouraging outlook. In utter despondency and frustration, some of them some of them become drug addicts in order to forget their unbearable worries. In this way, they ruin their lives & those of their families. While some others take to anti-social activities in order to make ends meet. Once, they enter the world of crimes, it becomes extremely difficult to come out of it. b). Those who are unemployed have insufficient resources to maintain their own and their family members health. The sub-standard diet or starvation, the inability to pay for ordinary medical care, all these contribute towards ill-health of the unemployed and his family members. Worry & anxiety about inability to provide for dependents ruin the
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familys health further and weaken the capacity to put up normal work out-put. The problem of low health is most serious in the low income group. c). Owing to unemployment in a country, its resources are not utilized to the full extent and production is less than the maximum. This affects the standard of living of the people. Due to poverty, illness, crime & other socio-economic problems arise leading to social dis-organization. Those unemployed are not only a problem to themselves but are a burden on the society. d). In addition to the physical and mental deprivation of the unemployed bread winner, it affects his family as well. In desperation, the children are sent to industry earlier as child-labour with half the normal wage, their education is dropped and the wife may seek employment in addition to her household duties. Thus, the whole family organization gets disrupted with adverse social effects. There are numerous causes of unemployment in Pakistan, but the most important causes are as below: Every census reveals rapid growth of population both in cities and villages. In fact, population has been growing for the last 25 years all over the world, but Pakistan is the greatest sinner in this respect. Every year thousands of new mouths are born to be fed and with this, the poorer would become the standard of living and whatever progress is being made every year is eaten up by the increasing population. The educational system is so defective as to render the educated men unfit for useful occupations. The system of education originally devised by Macaulay in this country has proved to be a curse. It only produced clerks and no industrial education worth the name is imparted. True education means complete development of each individuals body, capacity of brain & soul. Education is Governments responsibility. The present system of education is defective and calls for complete overhaul. Technological advancement creates unemployment. The increase in technology & mechanization means a displacement of human labour. With the advancement in technology, some manufacturing process has become as perfect as to be virtually automatic & hence reduces
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the demand for labour. Fractional unemployment is caused by changes in the industrial structure which are constantly occurring. Demand is constantly shifting from one product to another leaving behind a trial of unemployment. Because of advances in technical skill & highly specialized division of labour, able bodied & capable men are unable to secure jobs. In an agriculture country like Pakistan, cultivatable land, according to its land laws, is held in tenancies and is controlled by a minority (under Zamindari). It becomes too disintegrated to yield useful & profitable means of livelihood for the majority. Owing to purchase, partition, fragmentation & other reasons, small holdings impede the progress of large-scale cultivation. On account of these small holdings, modern methods of agriculture can not be successfully carried out unless the Govt to abolishes the Zamindari system. The capitalists are also responsible for causing the problem of unemployment. Unemployment arises from a variety of causes. It is a serious problem to eliminate all causes of unemployment. There are occasional causes of unemployment. When there is a marked diminution in the quality of any view product, such as cotton; fewer hands are required in the mills and factories. We may call this cause bad harvest. And yet another serious cause a strike or lockout and this is more to be deplored because such a stoppage of work is something due to trivial causes. End of cottage and small-scale village industries due to which the villagers remain idle. Unemployment has also been created due to the fact that most of the people do not want to do such jobs which are below standard and which are not desired. For example, the job of washerman, cobblers, barbers etc. are very profitable, but the people do not want such jobs & prefer fall into a poor life.

Both social & economic measures can help to solve the problems of unemployment. It can not be solved only through the personal efforts of the individuals. The joint efforts of the Govt & the Public can do a lot to solve the problem. Effective economic planning is the need of the hour. Natural resources of the country must be developed. Large scale industrialization & modernization of agriculture on scientific lines are sure to reduce unemployment in the country. Greater attention to the development of
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agriculture will stop the transfer of rural population to urban areas in search of jobs and reduce the pressure on the cities. Cottage & agro-based industries will create more jobs opportunities for the people & must be encouraged. The self-employment schemes of the Govt granting loans to the jobless to start their business are very helpful in solving the problem of unemployment. Unemployment-allowances from the Govt to the unemployed can save the families from starvation. Philanthropist Societies that grant money to the jobless are helpful to some extent in solving this problem but self-respecting men feel degraded to live on charity and want to earn an honest living by honest toil. The present education system must be changed to make it purposeful. Technical & scientific education must be encouraged. Promotion of exports is necessary to help reduce unemployment. Vocational & training centres should be set-up. Family Planning should be followed to check the high birth rate. It is only after a long struggle that we will be able to solve this problem. A more efficient functioning of employment exchanges would help in reducing frictional unemployment to the minimum. Measures should be adopted for raising the share of women in employment opportunities in the organized sector. As a result of all these measures for the economic development of the country, the national income of the country will increase along with employment opportunities for a burgeoning unemployed population in the country.