The public distribution system, which provides food at low
prices, is a subject of vital concern. There is a growing realization that
though Pakistan has enough food to feed its masses three square meals a day,
the monster of starvation and food insecurity continues to haunt the poor in
our country.
Increasing the purchasing power of the poor through
providing productive employment, leading to rising income, and thus good
standard of living is the ultimate objective of public policy. However, till
then, there is a need to provide assured supply of food through a restructured,
more efficient and decentralized public distribution system (PDS).
Although the PDS is extensive – it is one of the largest
such systems in the world – it has yet to reach the rural poor and the far off
places. It remains an urban phenomenon, with the majority of the rural poor
still out of its reach due to lack of economic and physical access. The poorest
in the cities and the migrants are left out, for they generally don not possess
ration cards. The allocation of PDS supplies in big cities is large than in
rural areas. In view of such deficiencies in the system, the PDS urgently needs
to be streamlined. In addition, considering the large food grains production combined
with food subsidy on one hand and the continuing slow starvation and dismal
poverty of the rural population on the other, there is a strong case for making
PDS target group oriented.
The growing salaried class is provided job security, regular
income, and percent insulation against inflation. These gains of development
have not percolated down to the vast majority of our working population. If one
compares only dearness allowance to the employees in public and private sector
and looks at its growth in the past few years, the rising food subsidy is
insignificant to the point of inequity. The food subsidy is a kind of D.A. to
the poor, the self-employed and those in the unorganized sector of the economy.
However, what is most unfortunate is that out of the large budget of the
so-called food subsidy, the major part of it is administrative cost and
wastages. A small portion of the above budget goes to real consumer and an even
lesser portion to the poor who are in real need.
It is true that subsidies should not become a permanent feature, except for the destitute, disabled, widows and the old. It is also true that subsides often create a psychology of dependence and hence are habit-forming and killing the general initiative of the people. By making PDS target group oriented, not only the poorest and neediest would be reached without additional cost, but it will actually cut overall costs incurred on large cities and for better off localities. When the food and food subsidy are limited, the rural and urban poor should have the priority in the PDS supplies. The PDS should be closely linked with programs of employment generation and nutrition improvement.
Q: What, according to the passage, is the main purpose of public policy in the long run?
A great deal of discussion continues as to the real extent
of global environment degradation and its implications. What few people
challenge however is that the renewable natural resources of developing countries
are today subject to stresses of unprecedented magnitude. These pressures are
brought about, in part, by increased population and the quest for an ever
expanding food supply. Because the health, nutrition and general well-being of
the poor majority are directly dependent on the integrity and productivity of
their natural resources, the capability of government to manage them
effectively over the long term becomes of paramount important.
Developing countries are becoming more aware of the ways in
which present and future economic development must built upon a sound and
sustainable natural resource base. Some are looking at our long tradition in
environmental protection and are receptive to U.S. assistance which recognizes
the uniqueness of the social and ecological system in these tropical countries.
Developing countries recognize the need to improve their capability to analyze
issues and their own natural resource management. In February 1981, for
example, AID funded a national Academy of Sciences panel to advise Nepal on its
severe natural resource degradation problems. Some countries such as Senegal,
India, Indonesia and Thailand, are now including conservation concerns in their
economic development planning process.
Because so many governments of developing nations have
recognized the importance of these issues, the need today is not merely one of
raising additional consciousness, but for carefully designed and sharply
focused activities aimed at management regimes that are essential to the
achievement of sustained development.
Q: The poor people of the developing world can lead a happy and contented life if
Educational planning should aim at meeting the educational
needs of the entire population of all age groups. While the traditional
structure of education as a three layer hierarchy from the primary stage to the
university represents the core, we should not overlook the periphery which is
equally important. Under modern conditions, workers need to rewind, or renew their
professor. The retired and the aged have their needs as well. Educational planning,
in their words, should take care of the needs of everyone.
Our structures of education have been built up on the
assumption that there is a terminal point to education. This basic defect has
become all the more harmful today. A UNESCO report, titled “Learning to be”
prepared by Edgar Faure and others in 1973 asserts that the education of
children must prepare the future adult for various forms of self-learning. A viable
education system of the future should consist of modules with different kinds
of functions serving a diversity of constituents. And performance, not the
period of study, should be the basis for credentials. The writing is already on
the wall.
In view of the fact that the significance of a commitment of
lifelong learning and lifetime education is being discussed only in recent
years even in educationally advanced countries, the possibility of the idea
becoming an integral part of educational thinking seems to be a far cry. For,
to move in that direction means much more than some simple rearrangement of the
present organization of education. But a good beginning can be made by
developing Open University programs for older learners of different categories
and introducing extension services in the conventional colleges and schools. Also,
these institutions should learn to cooperate with numerous community
organizations such as libraries, museums, municipal recreational programs,
health services etc.
Q: What is the main thrust of the author?
