Many scholars reflect that income stability is a great source of satisfaction, let that satisfaction be at both the individual or the collective level. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals number eight which talk of “decent work and economic growth” is also related to income stability. The Gross National Happiness Index has nine indicators or domains of happiness, the top three of them, that is, psychological well-being, health, and education, are in one way or other are also related to income stability or economic well-being of an individual or a society. According to a research paper published in the “Journal of Happiness Studies, income inequality is found to have a negative effect on life satisfaction. Where does Pakistan’s poorest province, Balochistan, stand in this regard is a question worthy enough to be analyzed critically.
According to an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School, Jon Jachimowicz, “… cash is key in [an] important way: it helps people avoid many of the day-to-day hassles that cause stress.” He and his colleagues did research and found that financial hardship is an established source of shame, leading to guilt. Because, “we have normalized this idea that when you are poor, it’s your fault and so you should be ashamed of it,” he argues.
In yet another paper Jachimowicz and his colleagues argue that financial instability causes greater distress intensity in everyday life. The paper also hypothesizes that money may not buy happiness, but it can reduce the intensity of stress in daily life. Like from ordering an Uber to paying an unexpected hospital bill, you need money. In a survey conducted by Jachimowcz and his colleagues, where they observed 522 participants for 30 days, they reached the conclusion that money reduces intense stress, brings greater control, and high incomes lead to higher satisfaction.
However, figures show dissatisfaction in Balochistan in this regard. For instance, as per the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics some 30 percent of Balochistan`s population which is over 3.5 million, had reported food insecurity by the end of the first quarter of 2020. According to Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, over a million people (1,178,000) in Balochistan are stressed and some 571,000 are in crisis. Over 70 percent of people in the province live in multidimensional poverty. The unemployment rate in the province stands at 4.3 percent for this year which means some 531,050 people in the province will remain unemployed for this fiscal year.
Moreover, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO), the participation rate of youth in labour for Balochistan is 44.44 percent which is the lowest among the provinces of the country. It also claims, “there has been no youth employment strategy or policy over the last 70 years [in the country]”. These figures give an idea of desperation among the youth of the country in general and of the province in particular.
The provincial government should make genuine efforts to legalize trade and human capital movement across the borders with Iran and Afghanistan to ensure the smooth running of the borders and encourage investors to invest in Balochistan and create opportunities by making industries in the province. Th5is is only possible when there is peace in Balochistan as the road to progress goes through peace.
While the opportunities for livelihood in the province are minimal, 0ost of the people of the province dream of having a government job. It is because they are told since their childhood that they should work hard and bring good grades to get a respectable Sarkari Naukri (government job) after completing their education. Also, government jobs ensure old age pensions. Second, lack of career counseling leads many on the track of becoming either a doctor or an engineer, where many are filtered out in the very first attempt and are left with fewer options. Most of them then opt for competitive exams and many get in an unending race of doing double and triple BA or MAs without acquiring marketable skills.
Even those who want to adopt modern trends of learning and earning online, fall victim to slow internet, electricity load-shedding, and lots of disappointments on account of increasing responsibilities and fewer opportunities. A great number, particularly from interior Balochistan, lower middle class, and lower class, start helping their parents in earning a livelihood for their families, and quit education.
Talking of private jobs, there are not many industries in the province that can give jobs to so many unemployed people. The wages are also low. While those who depend on daily wages are also open to poverty every now and then. Opportunities for a prosperous business are also not good in Balochistan, particularly in the south for security reasons. Quetta, the provincial capital, has almost, already reached its maximum capacity in this regard.
Trade on the porous borders of Iran and Afghanistan remains the last option for many to earn a respectable livelihood, but the closure of these borders and harassment by the security personnel on both sides is a great source of distress and depression among the people.
Furthermore, various studies also show that poverty and income inequality lead to crimes. It is also assumed that a person with a government job will hardly go violent or commit a crime. Even connecting lesser opportunities with an increase in the number of insurgents in the province is not a bad hypothesis either. Because it is common sense that a person who has a family to feed and has a government job or other opportunities of earning a respectable livelihood, is less likely to join the insurgents and go against the state. While those who hardly earn anything, are exposed to vulnerabilities, particularly when they keep listening to their people`s grievances with the state. Such people are more likely to react.
Governments (federal as well as provincial) can meet the challenge by first and foremost, ensuring peace in the province. Without peace, no other right can be ensured. Second, an integrated and coherent Youth Employment Strategy is necessary to make a significant impact, as concluded by the provincial consultation on youth employment held in Quetta in November 2017 in collaboration with the Prime Minister`s Youth Program and ILO . Seven areas were discussed in that consultation; i) education and training; ii) employment opportunities in the province; iii) employment of the youth in rural value chains; iv) employment [of the youth in mega development projects; v) overseas employment; vi) self-employment & enterprise development and; vii) social protection for unemployed youth.
Universal Basic Income (UBI) can be social protection for unemployed youth (area number 7). UBI is a government programme in which every adult citizen of the state receives a fixed amount on a regular basis. A province like Balochistan can mould the model a little to provide a basic amount to its unemployed and needy citizens until they are provided with decent employment. Third, efforts should be made to make fast internet available in every corner of the province and encourage youth to learn online means of earning through reputable and free platforms like Digiskills.pk. They can earn a suitable amount through freelancing, without being a burden or a liability on the government, as the government does not have the capacity to offer enough jobs.
Finally, the provincial government should make genuine efforts to legalize trade and human capital movement across the borders with Iran and Afghanistan to ensure the smooth running of the borders and encourage investors to invest in Balochistan and create opportunities by making industries in the province. Th5is is only possible when there is peace in Balochistan as the road to progress goes through peace.
