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There is a clear disconnect at the planning, implementation and execution level of poverty alleviation programs across South Asia. South Asia currently faces many challenges due to diverse political situations across the region. As a whole the region has many socio-economic problems in common and poverty is one of these.
South Asia currently hosts more than half of the poor in the world. Despite many poverty alleviation and aid programs launched by international donors, the situation is not improving, especially in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The level of poverty in this part of the world has reduced considerably over the last decade thanks to private-public efforts. However, more than one billion people are still living on less than two dollars a day although the trend is declining in the region according to the World Bank along with major improvements predicted in other social indicators. To fully understand the issue of poverty in South Asia it is important to investigate social trends prevailing in the region and their impact on each area. Poverty trends in South Asia follow arbitrary patterns at the national level. Various provinces and states within a country have gone through different poverty trends. For instance, poverty in India is more visible in some eastern and southeastern states while in Pakistan it is more concentrated in the south western and northern areas. This inconsistent trend in large countries in the region has resulted in some serious planning issues. Poverty related issues in South Asia can be summarised in a single word - 'Disconnect'. There is a clear disconnect at every level, be it planning, implementation or execution. There is a major problem in identifying socio-economic problems in the context of local needs - a result of relying on old methods of information gathering. No centralized data repository has been built so that key information about major social factors such as the number of unemployed people, literacy rate, infrastructure provision, health facilities, access to market, access to finance for small businesses, etc. could be available at a central place. Absence of this data has led to policies based on mere estimates and calculations. Inadequate data leads to defective policy planning. Policy makers often don't have correct inputs about the exact situation on ground in a particular area regarding poverty level, basic needs, supply and demands situation, market access, literacy rate and other factors. For example one district in a country suffers poverty due to lack of infrastructure, while the next one faces the same problem due to lack of business acumen in local people and a third one plunges into poverty due to absence of investment and finances. The ad hoc approach in policy-making is another bottleneck for poverty reduction programmes; people don't need unplanned solutions like the National Rural Employment Scheme in India or the Rozgar Scheme in Pakistan. These schemes are inconsistent in their approach and only offer rough and ready solutions to a permanent problem. Necessary infrastructure is also a huge challenge for the region. According to latest estimates, South Asia needs $25 billion every year for its infrastructure development to sustain growth. Inadequate infrastructure is hindering foreign investment as well. The current energy crisis in Pakistan has brought out this fact while sweeping floods in the monsoon season in India and Bangladesh have also proved that absence of necessary infrastructure hinders economic growth. Human development is another area of concern for governments in South Asia. No poverty alleviation programme can be successful without adopting a realistic approach towards converting vast unskilled and semi-skilled workers into a potent skilled workforce that can handle new and emerging technologies and trends in business and agriculture. The quality of education is also an important area. There is a clear lack of infrastructure for vocational training and business training infrastructure. This has created vast numbers of unskilled workers who are not equipped to generate any income on their own. Resource disparity is another issue. Central governments in national capitals often distribute assets among states and provinces in a standardized manner while provinces have loose control or no control over their natural resources. There is no short-term solution to alleviating poverty in South Asia. However, there are a number of steps that governments can take in addition to what they are already doing. The first priority should be to remove the 'Disconnect' situation by implementing reliable data collection and analysis mechanisms. Data-driven decision support systems, database management systems, performance evolution systems and other IT-based governance systems have proved more than handy in accurate data analysis for various social factors in developed countries. This should be followed by cohesive policies at macro and micro levels to make realistic programmes aimed at sustaining growth and alleviating poverty. Some 40 to 60 percent of the population in South Asia is directly connected to agriculture but growth in population has threatened rural areas to revert to poverty. The non-farm sector is a neglected area in South Asia. It can offer durable employment opportunities, particularly to semi-skilled and non-skilled workers, provided comprehensive policy work has been done at the government level to create a conducive environment and to develop an enabling infrastructure. Skilled people fleeing to urban centres and towns have created management issues over decades leading to disparity in skilled manpower in villages and rural areas. Instead of wage-based schemes at the national level, targeted small business schemes for individuals and communities can be more beneficial. South Asian governments will have to take the challenge of human development head on. Currently illiteracy has decreased in all countries in the region but a huge pool of human resource is way behind the policies developed countries have adopted in their industrial complexes, agriculture farms and business entrepreneurships. A regional approach can also play a vital role. Countries can learn from each other by sharing experiences in areas like agriculture, non-farm based income programmes, credit finance programmes and infrastructure development, etc. Community participation is also important for poverty alleviation. It is time when governments came forward and invited local communities to help in planning and implementing poverty alleviation and income generation programmes. The local community can provide exact and accurate data about social indicators of a particular locality that can be used in planning future programmes. Policies of devolution of power are needed in order to make provinces and states more autonomous financially. Provinces must grant resources and powers at the grassroots level to districts so that local administrations can take initiatives at the lowest level in a targeted approach to eradicate poverty. However, this must be part of a cohesive policy devised at the centre so that central governments can intervene in the event that a programme goes off target.
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