The Spate of Poverty?
By the Editor

THE two-day meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers has concluded with a pledge by the member States to close their ranks to fight poverty. The delegates from seven countries discussed a host of issues to forge regional cooperation but their main focus was on finding ways and means to address the issue of poverty.

South Asian nations are plagued with abysmal poverty because of their constant neglect to divert resources for the social sector.

For the outside world, South Asian poverty manifests itself in its starkest form as a visual of semi-starved, ill-clad, deprived millions, malnutrition, ill health, and lack of basic amenities.

This is an appalling picture from any standards of human existence. Eradication of poverty and the ending of hunger have long been recognised as among the most central challenges before human society. Equitable patterns of growth are essential for sustainable poverty reduction.

Policies supporting economic stability, as well as embedded safety nets are necessary to reduce poverty and protect the poor.

Experts agree that strategies to reduce poverty must be situation-specific, directly addressing the realities on the ground. With somewhat variation, countries of South Asian region are facing almost similar situation as far as the problem of the poverty and its causes are concerned.

This is evident from their lower ranking on the UN Human Development Index. Though some of the social indicators like literacy are relatively high in some countries but the destiny of their masses is not different from others because of poor standards.

Under these circumstances, it augurs well that the SAARC countries have agreed to address the issue of poverty on a priority basis. Some international organizations have already expressed their readiness to provide necessary assistance if the Association comes out with some concrete plan of action.

We, however, believe that there can be no meaningful change in the situation until and unless the member States address the political issues. Unresolved problems increase tension in the region forcing countries to divert their resources to defence.

A hefty raise in the Indian military budget this year is a classic example of this phenomenon. We hope that sincere efforts will be made to solve the lingering disputes so as to increase the pace of economic development and march towards the goal of prosperity.●