Maria, a 28-year-old woman from Islamabad, lost both legs in a car accident in her teens.

Despite her
disability, Maria continued her education, despite initial resistance from the university administration.
She faces discrimination and lack of accessibility, which contributes to social and structural inequality in
Pakistan. The country's 6.2% population, around 12.8 million people, has some form of disability. The
Pakistan NHDR 2020 highlights three core drivers of inequality: Power, People, and Policy. Power refers
to groups exploiting loopholes, networks, and policies for their own benefit, exacerbated and reinforced
by vested interests. The chapter discusses the benefits enjoyed by wealthy and powerful groups, the
incidence of taxes, and public expenditure priorities to determine the state's spending on public services
and social protection programs.

In Pakistan, 6.2% of the population, around 12.8 million people, have some form of disability.
Discrimination and lack of accessibility for these individuals contribute to social and structural inequality.
Power as a driver of inequality is a key factor, with groups exploiting loopholes, networks, and policies
for their own benefit. This leads to structural inequality in Pakistan, which is exacerbated and reinforced
by these groups. The Pakistan NHDR 2020 highlights three core drivers of inequality: Power, People, and
Policy. Power refers to the groups who exploit loopholes, networks, and policies for their own benefit.
The political economy of inequality relates to the sources, nature, and dimensions of privilege. Vested
interests can acquire these through the political process in a democratic system or through patronage in
an autocratic one, often referred to as'state capture by the elite'. This may involve special and favored
treatment of the privileged in laws, rules, and regulations, as well as preferential treatment by public
institutions. This preferential treatment may be based on the perceived importance of a particular
vested interest in economic growth, lobbying with senior echelons in public office or political leadership,
or involving a conflict of interest on the part of key government functionaries.

The large income and wealth gap between the elite and the majority of the population can be explained
by the political economy of inequality. This inequality stems from the alignment of political forces and
groups in a country and tends to persist and grow unless fundamental changes are made in the power
structure and a radical transformation is affected. The feudal class in Pakistan, comprising only 92,919
people, enjoys privileges such as tax exemptions, low effective tax rates, tax evasion, and
disproportionate access to political representation in the National and Provincial Assemblies. They also
enjoy an extremely low tax rate on agricultural income, with the highest marginal income tax rate per
acre being 1.7% of the net income generated. This low tax rate on agricultural income allows the feudal
class to secure special and favored treatment in laws, rules, and regulations.