Structure and Extent of poverty status

Imran Sharif Chaudhry

Abstract

Poverty, particularly rural poverty, has been one of the enduring policy challenges especially in remote areas of Pakistan. In this respect, Poverty estimates are a vital input in the design, implementation, and monitoring of antipoverty policies. The aim of the paper is to study the structure and extent of poverty status in the settled areas of Cholistan. This study is significantly based on the primary source of data collected from a cluster sample of Cholistan of Bahawalpur district consisting of four villages in 2002. According to the results it is concluded that poverty estimates are more severe in the context of population than households, based on the two poverty lines. On average extreme poverty is more severe among the landless than landholding households in a total cluster sample. Status of economic infrastructure is very poor as no roads; no electricity and any health and education facilities are available in the areas of a cluster sample of Cholistan. The improvement in the household's employment opportunities, livelihood conditions, drinking water and sanitation environment, economic infrastructure, access to landholding and health, and education facilities in the areas of Cholistan can, at best, be considered to reduce extreme poverty.