Speakers call for 4% of GDP spending on health and education.

KARACHI, June 02, 2009 (Balochistan Times) -- The speakers at a Pre-Budget Seminar on Thursday called upon the government to spend at least 4 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on education, health and agriculture. A statement on Thursday said that the moot was organised by Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) Pakistans Sindh Chapter in collaboration with Health and Nutrition Development Society (HANDS) at PMA House here. It said that the speakers included Karamat Ali, Executive Director of Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER); Dr. Abdul Ghaffar Billoo, Chairman of HANDS; Mohammad Zia-ur-Rehman, National Coordinator of GCAP; Ms. Sadiqa Salahuddin, Executive Director of Indus Resource Centre; Fazal Noor, Country Representative of Ashoka Foundation and Dr. Tanveer Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer CEO of HANDS. The speakers pointed out that the situations of public facilities for provision of health, education, water and sanitation services are insufficient or are poorly managed and without proper basic infrastructure and the incapability of related departments. Introducing the GCAP, Zia-ur- Rahman said it is coalition of the networks and civil society organisations of 110 countries. Its headquarters is located in Johannesburg, South Africa. In Pakistan as many as 213 organisations are its members, he further stated. Rahman maintained that the current global financial crisis has also affected the situation of the poor in Pakistan. Speaking on the occasion, Karamat Ali of PILER in his paper also underlined the need to introduce land reforms in the country. He pointed out that 60% of the agriculture landholding is owned by a small number of big landlords, who even do not pay taxes. Ms. Sadiqa Salahuddin of IRC in her paper on Status of Education and Budgetary Allocation said that the condition of government schools is very poor. She was of the view that there is no literacy policy in the country. She was of the view that many of children leave government schools because of the corporal punishment in schools. The government schools do not have other facilities, she added. Fazal Noor in his paper on Status of Poverty in Pakistan, Distribution of Budget said the citizens sector suffers lack of cooperation. We even do not have a consensus on definition of poverty, he added.

(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)