Pakistan Affairs

CSS 2020 
Umer Vaqar
Land and People of Pakistan
1. Land and people of Pakistan (Reference to
Characteristics, Trends and Problems)
o Geography
o Society
o Natural Resources
o Agriculture
o Industry
o Education

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Land and People of
Pakistan
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Pakistan - Facts
o Pakistan means “Land of the Pure

o Situated in South Asia

o 6th most Populous country in the world

o Area covering 796,000km2 (Land 97% and Water 3%)

o Area wise Pakistan is the 36th Largest Country in the world

o Pakistan lies between

o Latitudes - 24 ° - 36.75 ° north
o Longitudes - 61 ° - 75.5 ° east
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Pakistan - Facts
o Its capital is Islamabad, in the foothills of the Himalayas in the northern part
of the country,

o Its largest city is Karachi, in the south on the coast of the Arabian Sea

o It has 4 Provinces

o It is a Federal Area

o Pakistan has administrative units

o Islamabad
o Gilgit-Baltistan
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Pakistan - Diversity
o Pakistan encompasses a rich diversity of landscapes,
o starting in the northwest, from the soaring Pamirs and the Karakoram Range
o through a maze of mountain ranges,
o a complex of valleys,
o inhospitable plateaus,
o remarkably even surface of the fertile Indus River plain, which drains southward
into the Arabian Sea
o It contains a section of the ancient Silk Road
o Important Passes (Khyber, Tuchi, Bolan, Gomal, Bolan, Babusar, Shandur, Khunjerab)
o Lofty peaks such as K2 and Nanga Parbat, in the Pakistani-administered region
of Kashmir, present a challenging lure to mountain climbers
o Along the Indus River, the artery of the country, the ancient site of Mohenjo-
daro marks one of the cradles of civilization.
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Pakistan – Physical Features
1. Northern Mountains (Sub-himalayas, Pir Panjal Range, central
himalayas and Karakoram Range)
2. The South Western Mountains (Hindu Kush, Safed Koh,
Waziristan Hills, Kirthar range and Sulaiman Range)
3. The Baluchistan Plateau
4. The Potwar Plateau and the Salt Range
5. The Indus Plain
6. Deserts (Thal, Cholistan, Nara & Tharparker Desert)
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Pakistan – Geo-strategic Importance
o Proximity to Great powers
o Gateway to Central Asia
o Significance as a Transit economy
o Important link in the chain of Muslim countries
o Muslim country with nuclear capability
o China's link to the Middle East
o Reduce Indian hegemony in the Arabian Sea and Indian
Ocean

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Pakistan – Relief and Drainage
o Pakistan is situated at the western end of the great Indo-Gangetic Plain

o Of the total area of the country,

o about 3/5ths consists of rough mountainous terrain and plateaus,
o the remaining 2/5ths constitutes a wide expanse of level plain

o Including a number of desert areas

o Cholistan, Nara, Tharparkar, Thal, Kharan

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Pakistan – Relief and Drainage

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Pakistan – Climate
o Aridity is the most pervasive aspect of Pakistan’s climate, and its
continental nature can be seen in the extremes of temperature
o Pakistan is situated on the edge of a monsoonal (i.e., wet-dry) system
o Precipitation throughout the country generally is erratic, and its volume
is highly variable
o The rainy monsoon winds, the exact margins of which vary from year to
year, blow in intermittent bursts, and most moisture comes in the
summer
o Tropical storms from the Arabian Sea provide precipitation to the
coastal areas but are also variable in character

o Pakistan’s continental type of climate is characterized by extreme variations

of temperature, both seasonally and daily
o High elevations modify the climate in the cold, snow-covered northern
mountains; temperatures on the Balochistan plateau are somewhat higher
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Pakistan – Climate
o Along the coastal strip, the climate is modified by sea breezes
o In the rest of the country, temperatures reach great extremes in the summer; the
mean temperature during June is 100 °F (38 °C) in the plains, where the highest
temperatures can exceed 117 °F (47 °C)
o Jacobabad, in Sind, has recorded the highest temperature in Pakistan, 127 °F
(53 °C)
o In the summer, hot winds called ”loos” blow across the plains during the day
o The dry, hot weather is broken occasionally by dust storms and thunderstorms
that temporarily lower the temperature.
o Evenings are cool;
o the diurnal variation in temperature may be as much as 20 to 30 °F (11 to 17
°C)
o Winters are cold, minimum mean temperatures of about 40 °F (4 °C) in January.
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Pakistan – Social Composition
o There are over 60 languages spoken in Pakistan
o Urdu is the official national language, and a symbol of national unity understood
by 80% of the Pakistani
o Pakistan has six major ethnic groups and other ethnic minorities
o Punjabi – 44.7%
o Pashtoon – 15.4%
o Sindhi – 14.1%
o Saraiki – 8.4%
o Muhajir – 7.6%
o Balochi – 3.6%
o Other Groups – 6.2%

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Pakistan – Social Composition

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Pakistan – Economy
o Pakistan currently operates a mixed economy in which state-owned enterprises
account for a large portion of gross domestic product (GDP)
o The country has experimented with several economic models during its existence.
o At first, Pakistan’s economy was largely based on private enterprise,
o But significant sectors of it were nationalized beginning in the early 1970s,
including financial services, manufacturing, and transportation
o Further changes were made in the 1980s, under the military
government of Zia ul-Haq.
o “Islamic” economy was introduced
o outlawed practices forbidden charging interest on loans (ribā )—
o mandated the payment of zakāt (tithe) and ushr (land tax).
o The state began in the 1990s to privatize—in whole or in part—large sectors
of the nationalized economy.
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Pakistan – Economy
o Industrial sector
o 21% in GDP,
o 23.74% in Employment

o Agriculture sector
o 18.8% in GDP,
o 42.02% in Employment

o Services sector
o 60.2% in GDP,
o 34.25% in Employment

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Pakistan – Agriculture
o Overall, approximately one-fourth of Pakistan is arable land,
o although only small fractions of that are in permanent crops (about 1 percent)
or permanent pastures (6 percent)

o Land-reform programs implemented in 1959, 1972, and 1977 began to deal with
o the problems of large-scale, often absentee ownership of land
o the excessive fragmentation of small holdings by introducing maximum and
minimum area limits

o Modernization of the Agriculture Sector

o The construction of tube wells for irrigation and salinity control,
o the use of chemical fertilizers and scientifically selected seeds,
o and the gradual introduction of farm machinery 21
Pakistan – Agriculture
o Pakistan experienced what became known as the Green Revolution during the
late 1960s,
o leaving a surplus that was partly shipped to East Pakistan (Bangladesh) and
partly exported;
o self-sufficiency in wheat—the national staple—was achieved by about 1970
o Rice is the second major food staple and one of the country’s important
export crops
o Large domestic sugar subsidies have been primarily responsible for an
increase in sugarcane production
o Other crops include chickpeas, pearl millet (bajra), corn (maize), rapeseed,
and mustard, as well as a variety of garden crops, including onions, peppers,
and potatoes
o Pakistan benefits greatly from having two growing seasons, rabi (spring harvest)
and kharif (fall harvest).
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Pakistan – Agriculture
o The cultivation and transportation of illicit narcotics remains a large sector of the
informal economy
o Pakistan is one of the world’s leading producers of opium poppy (for the
production of heroin) and also produces or transports cannabis (as hashish)
from Afghanistan for local markets and for re-export abroad

o Animal husbandry provides important domestic and export products

o Livestock includes cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, camels, and poultry
o These animals provide meat and dairy products for local consumption, as well
as wool for the carpet industry and for export and hides and skins for
the leather industry

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Pakistan – Forestry and Fishing
o The contribution of forestry to national income remains negligible, but that of
fisheries has risen
o Roughly 5 (some references – 3% or 4%) percent of the country is forested

o Fishing activity is centered in Karachi,

o and part of the catch of lobster and other shellfish is exported

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Pakistan – Minerals
o The exploration of Pakistan’s mineral wealth is far from complete, but some two
dozen different types of exploitable minerals have been located
o Iron ore deposits are mostly of poor quality
o The most extensive known reserves are situated in the Kalabagh region
o Other low-grade ore reserves have been found in Hazara
o Small reserves of high-grade iron ore have been identified in Chitral
o Deposits of copper ore equaling or surpassing the reserves of iron ore have been
found, but most sites remain unexploited
o There are enormous reserves of easily exploited limestone that form the basis of
a growing cement industry, a major component of the manufacturing sector.
o Other minerals that are exploited include
o Chromite, Barite, Celestine (strontium sulfate), Antimony, Aragonite (calcium
carbonate), Gypsum, Rock Salt, Marble and Granite.
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Pakistan – Petroleum
o Pakistan has modest quantities of petroleum and some large natural gas fields
o The first oil discovery was made in 1915
o Pakistan intensified the search for oil and natural gas in the 1980s
o Was rewarded with the discovery of a number of new oil fields in the Potwar
Plateau region and in Sind
o A number of fields have been developed, particularly near Badin, in Sind.
o Pakistan has had to import increasing amounts of oil from abroad
o to satisfy growing consumption,
o making the country vulnerable to fluctuations in world oil markets
o most imports take the form of crude oil
o the oil sector is regulated by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural
Resources, and international oil companies are authorized to operate in
Pakistan in cooperation with domestic companies.
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Pakistan – Natural Gas and Coal
o The largest natural gas deposits are at Sui (on the border
between Balochistan and Punjab), discovered in 1953
o A smaller field, at Mari, in northeast Sind province, was found in 1957
o A number of smaller natural gas fields subsequently have been discovered in
various areas
o A network of gas pipelines links the fields with the main consumption
areas: Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, and Islamabad.

o Coal mining is one of the country’s oldest industries.

o The quality of the coal is poor, and the mines have been worked below
capacity because of the difficulty of access; despite ample reserves, the
country regularly imports coal

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Pakistan – Power
o The bulk of power requirements are provided by thermal plants (coal, oil, and
natural gas), with most of the remainder provided by hydroelectric installations.

o The generation, transmission, and distribution of power is the responsibility of

the Pakistani Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA)

o Developments of the hydroelectric potential of Pakistan’s rivers has been done

o A giant hydroelectric plant is in operation at the Mangla Dam,
o Another such source is the giant Tarbela Dam, on the Indus River.

o Pakistan has three nuclear power plants,

o the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (completed 1972), the Chashma Nuclear
Power Plant-1 (2000), and the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant-2 (2011) 28
Pakistan – Manufacturing
o Mining and quarrying account for a small % of GDP and of total employment
o Manufacturing, however, constitutes a healthy proportion
o Main industrialization effort dates to the cessation of trade between India and
Pakistan in 1949
o Construction of cotton textile mills—a development that now accounts for a
large part of the total employment in industry
o Woolen textiles, sugar, paper, tobacco, and leather industries also provide
many jobs for the industrial labour force
o The growing trade deficit in the mid-1950s compelled the government to cut
down on imports,
o encouraged the establishment of import-substitution industries
o at first these factories produced mainly consumer goods, the came to
produce intermediate goods and a range of capital goods
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Pakistan – Finance
o Finance contributes a relatively small value to GDP, though its growth rate in the
late 20th and early 21st centuries has been considerable
o Pakistan has a variety of
o state banks, state-run banks (though more-recent trends have been toward
privatizing these), scheduled (i.e., commercial) banks, private banks, and
foreign banks
o Noteworthy has been the spread of banks that operate within the principles
of Islamic law
o A number of such institutions were established beginning in the 1980s, and,
more recently, several established Western-style banks have opened up
divisions offering Islamic banking services

o Pakistan has a fairly well-developed system of financial services

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Pakistan – Finance
o The State Bank of Pakistan (1948) has overall control of the banking sector
o acts as banker to the central and provincial governments,
o administers official monetary and credit policies, including exchange controls.
o it has the sole right to issue currency (the Pakistani rupee)
o has custody of the country’s gold and foreign-exchange reserves
o A few specialist financial institutions provide medium- and long-term credit for
industrial, agricultural, and housing purposes and include
o Pakistan Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation (1957)
o Industrial Development Bank of Pakistan (1961)
o Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan (1961)
o House Building Finance Corporation (1952).
o Pakistan Stock Exchange (Before KSE,LSE and ISE) plays an important part in the
transaction and trade of financial instruments in Pakistan
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 Pakistan – Trade
Trade Deficit - $26 billion (2017) approx
Exports
o Amount
o $21.7 billion (2017 est.)
o $21.71 billion (2016 est.)
o Exports – commodities:
o Textiles , rice, leather goods,
sporting goods, chemicals, surgical
instruments, carpets and rugs
o Export - partners:
o US 16.3%, China 7.6%, UK 7.4%,
Afghanistan 6.5%, Germany 5.7%
(2016)
Imports
o Amount
o $48.21 billion (2017 est.)
o $41.62 billion (2016 est.)
o Imports - commodities:
o petroleum, petroleum products,
machinery, plastics, transportation
equipment, edible oils, paper and
paperboard, iron and steel, tea
o Imports - partners:
o China 29.1%, UAE 13.2%, Indonesia
4.4%, US 4.3%, Japan 4.2% (2016)
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Pakistan – Constitutional Framework
o Task of framing a constitution was entrusted in 1947 to a Constituent Assembly
o to function as the interim legislature under - Government of India Act 1935

o Pakistan’s first constitution was enacted by the Constituent Assembly in 1956

o It followed the form of the 1935 act,
o Allowing the president far-reaching powers to suspend federal and provincial
parliamentary government
o It also included a “parity formula,” rather than population, basis
o (A major factor in the political crisis of 1970–71 was abandonment of
the parity formula and adoption of representation by population, giving East
Pakistan an absolute majority in the National Assembly.)

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Pakistan – Constitutional Framework
o In 1958 the constitution was abrogated, and martial law was instituted
o A new constitution, promulgated in 1962,
o provided for the election of the president and national and provincial
assemblies by something similar to an electoral college,
o composed of members of local councils
o A federal form of government was retained,
o the assemblies had little power, which was, in effect, centralized through
the authority of governors acting under the president
o In April 1973 Pakistan’s third constitution (since the 1935 act) was adopted by
the National Assembly; it was suspended in 1977
o In March 1981 a Provisional Constitutional Order was promulgated,
providing a framework for government under martial law

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Pakistan – Constitutional Framework
o Four years later a process was initiated for reinstating the constitution of 1973
o By October 1985 a newly elected National Assembly had amended the
constitution, giving extraordinary powers to the president,
o including the authority to appoint any member of the National Assembly as
prime minister

o In 1997 the prime minister pushed through two significant changes to the
constitution
o The first revoked the president’s power to remove a sitting government
o The second gave the premier authority to dismiss from parliament any member
not voting along party lines—effectively eliminating the National Assembly’s
power to make a vote of no confidence

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Pakistan – Constitutional Framework
o In 1999 a military government again came to power, and the constitution was
suspended
o The chief executive of that government initially ruled by decree and was made
president in 2001
o In 2002 the constitution was reinstated following a national referendum,
o though it included provisions (under the name Legal Framework order [LFO])
that restored presidential powers removed in 1997;
o most provisions of the LFO were formally incorporated into the constitution in
2003.
o The amended constitution provides for a President as head of state and
a Prime Minister as head of government; both must be Muslims
o The President acts on the advice of the Prime Minister
o Universal adult suffrage has been practiced practiced
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Pakistan – Local Government
o Pakistan’s four provinces are divided into (Article 32 and 140A)
o divisions,
o districts, (The Key Level of Governance)
o subdistricts (tehsils, or tahsils)

o These units are run by a hierarchy of administrators,

o such as the divisional commissioner, the deputy commissioner at the district
level, and the subdivisional magistrate, subdivisional officer,
or tehsildar (tahsildar) at the tehsil level

o During the period of British rule, the deputy commissioner was both the symbol
and embodiment of the central government in remote locations 37
Pakistan – Justice
o Under the constitution there is a formal division between the judiciary and the
executive branches of government
o The judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, the provincial high courts, and (under
their jurisdiction and supervision) district courts
o that hear civil cases and sessions courts that hear criminal cases
o There is also a magistracy that deals with cases brought by the police
o The district magistrate
o The Supreme Court is a court of record (whose proceedings are recorded)
o It has original, appellate, and advisory jurisdictions
o Is the highest court in the land
o At the time of independence, Pakistan inherited legal codes and acts that have
remained in force, subject to amendment
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Pakistan – Justice
o The independence of the judiciary has been tested at times,
o most notably in 2007, when Pres. Pervez Musharraf replaced the CJP and
several other Supreme Court justices who challenged his legitimacy
o Pressure from lawyers’ groups and opposition leaders led to the justices’
reinstatement in 2009

o The judicial system also has a religious dimension;

o A complete code of Islamic laws was instituted,
o Federal Shariat Court, court of Islamic law (Sharīʿah), was set up in the 1980s;
o the primary purpose of this court is to ascertain whether laws passed by
parliament are congruent with the precepts of Islam

o The Sharīʿah system operates alongside the Anglo-Saxon system

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Pakistan – Education
o Pakistan’s literacy rate is substantially lower than that of many developing
countries;
o roughly half of all adults are literate,
o the literacy rate being significantly higher for males than for females
o Education in Pakistan is not compulsory
o Since independence Pakistan has increased the number of primary and secondary
schools, and the number of students enrolled has risen dramatically
o Teacher training has been promoted by the government and by international
agencies
o Higher education is available at vocational schools, technical schools, and colleges
throughout the country

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Pakistan – Education
o The oldest university is the University of the Punjab (established 1882),
o the largest institutions are
o Allama Iqbal Open University (1974)
o University of Peshawar (1950)
o University of Karachi (1950).
o Other universities established during the 20th century include
o Quaid-i-Azam University (1967)
o Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University in Peshawar (1981),
o Aga Khan University in Karachi (1983)
o Lahore University for Management Sciences (1986)

o Most university classes are taught in Urdu or English.

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Pakistan – Education
o Education suffered a major setback in the 1970s as a result of the nationalization
of private schools and colleges
o The reversal of that policy in the 1980s led to a proliferation of private institutions,
particularly in the large cities
o In the 1980s the government also began to focus on the Islamization of the
curriculum and the increased use of Urdu as the medium of instruction
o An increase in the number of madrassas (Islamic schools)
o Although many of these schools provide good quality education in religious
as well as secular subjects, others are simply maktabs (primary schools)
o that provide no basic education, even for older students, beyond the
memorization of scripture; a number of those—particularly schools found
along the Afghan border—have been recruiting and training centres for
jihadist groups.
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Pakistan – Education
o The more-Westernized segments of the population prefer to send their children to
private schools, which continue to offer Western-style education and instruction in
English

o A number of private schools offer college entrance examinations administered by

educational agencies in the United States and the United Kingdom, and many
graduates of these schools are educated abroad
o The division of the educational system into
o a private Westernized section
o a state-run Islamized section has thus caused social tensions

o exacerbated the problem of “brain drain,” the emigration to the West of many of
the better-educated members of the population.
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Pakistan – Cultural Life
o Pakistan shares influences that have shaped the cultures of South Asia
o Cultural ways in Pakistan are broadly similar to those experienced in large parts
of Afghanistan and northern India
o This entire region was deeply influenced by the Arabic-Persian culture that arrived
with Muslim conquerors beginning roughly a millennium ago
o On the other hand, the specific regional cultures of Pakistan present a picture of
rich diversity,
o making it difficult to speak of a single Pakistani culture
o Residents of KP, for example, lead lives similar to fellow Pashtuns in Afghanistan
o In other parts of the country,
o Urdu-speaking muhajirs brought with them many cultural ways and values
found among the Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim populations of northern India.
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Social Problems
The Prevailing Social Problems of Pakistan and the Strategies
to Deal with them,
o Poverty
o Education
o Health
o Sanitation

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Poverty
o SDG 1 – Eliminate Poverty
oPakistan faced rampant poverty with more than half of the
population living under the Poverty Line as measured by
the Human Development Index
oSDG 2 – Erase Hunger

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Poverty
oThe poverty is big issues because it is creating environment
of hopelessness and annoyance among its people.
oThe intention of Government to provide sustained poverty
reduction strategy still a vague idea.

oSource: Poverty and Social Safety Nets Chapter 15 47

Poverty
oLeast level interventions showed by Government regarding
poverty
obut recent changes of allocated quota is still endorse some
hope
oIn 2016 economic survey
oGovernment allocate minimum of 4.5% of GDP to social &
poverty related expenditures
oThe 17 pro-poor sectors agenda of Government through the
Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) is related with
reduction mode of poverty at Government level - BISP
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Education
oSectoral Framework
1 Quality and Learning Outcomes

2 Access, Retention and Equity

3 Governance and Management

4 Monitoring and Evaluation

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 SCHOOL EDUCATION

No.of Schools
H.Sec. High Middle Primary Total
751 6,674 8,289 36,321 52,035

No.of Teachers
H.Sec. High Middle Primary Total
24,794 133,260 90,577 142,151 390,782

Total Enrolment disaggregated by Gender

Male Female Total
6,446,463 6,140,691 12,587,154
Education
oThe limited access towards education is not suitable for
Pakistan
oThe education comes among basic facilities and provides
framework to exploit much resources
oPakistan is doing slow move towards eradicating issues
related with education now a day
oThere are many programs that are dealing with issues related
with education like Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF)
oSDG – 4 Provide Quality Education
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Education
oThe recent survey named as Pakistan social and Living
Standards Measurement (PSLM)
oliteracy rate is higher in urban area 74 percent,
orural areas 49 percent

omen contribute about 81 percent in such literacy rate

oThe only possibility is to deal with such issues to increase

education quota from 2.1 current figure to 4 percent of GDP
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Education
oConstitutional Articles
o Article-22: Safeguards as to educational
institutions in respect of religion, etc
o Article-25A: Right to education
o18th Amendment

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Education
Education & 18th Amendment
oEducation was one subject devolved at the provincial level.
This was done without thinking through that
owhether the provinces have necessary resources
owhether ALL provinces equally have the aforementioned
basic variables in place failing - Civil Services being an area
of provincial lag
oThe Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) existence was also
challenged, however the Supreme Court allowed it to
discharge its functions under HEC Ordinance 2002.
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Education
oThe provincial governments responsible for
opaying all education-related costs including stationery,
schoolbags and transport for children aged 5 to 16 age,
othey are also obligated to provide free education
oStipend to female children
oThe governments are also responsible for monitoring private
sector education as well
oWhat about Madrassa education ? - Extremism
oWhat about funding in the education sector?
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Health
oIn Pakistan, only 3% of the total budget is allocated for
healthcare which is not enough
oSDG – 2 Erase Hunger
oSDG – 3 Establish Good Health and Well-Being

oLack of resources in terms of doctors, nurses or health

facilities?

oWhat about contraception?

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Health
oIn Pakistan, only 3% of the total budget is allocated for
healthcare which is not enough
oPrimary and Secondary Healthcare has been devolved to the
provinces
oFocus on Mother and Child Health

oDo we talk about mental health?

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Health
Health & 18th Amendment
oAnother negative resulting from the 18th Amendment was
the devolution of health services to provinces
owith no central checking authority
oThe provinces are/were ill equipped to handle this critical
area of social wellbeing and service to people
oAnother issue coming out of this has been that of counterfeit
drugs

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Health
oThe World Health Organisation had also expressed its
reservations over the state of Health sector after the
18th Amendment
oWrote a letter to PM Gilani raising reservations on the
capacity of the Health Sector

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Sanitation
o SDG 6 – Improve Clean Water and Sanitation
oThe conference named as Pakistan Conference on Sanitation
(PACOSAN) was held in February in 2015
oPakistan showed commitment to save her children from
health issues but reforms should be pragmatic and physical
rather than in words
oThe Children of Pakistan has been struggling with mental
and physical growth for long and now Pakistan has to
change its strategy towards health issues.

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Conclusion
oPoverty, Education, Health and Sanitation are among the
prevailing social problems of Pakistan and need serious action
or strategies to deal with them

oThe lust of Government is not a solution and there is only

one solution that is serious and needy actions to tackle issues
related with these social problems in Pakistan.

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Thank you
