Advocate Fahmeed Nawaz Ansari requested the Lahore High Court to accept his petition and order the government to increase the minimum wage in Pakistan to $1,000. Ansari has made Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and chief ministers of all provinces defendants in the case.
A lawyer has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court of Pakistan demanding increase in the minimum allowance in the entire country. Advocate Fahmeed Nawaz Ansari claims that if the government in Pakistan increases the minimum wage to $1000, then poverty in the country will be eradicated.
The petition was filed on Wednesday, which is to be heard on Thursday. According to the official data of the Government of Pakistan, the minimum wage is currently fixed at 37,000 Pakistani rupees. Increasing it to $1000 per month would mean increasing this amount to 2.80 lakh Pakistani rupees per month.
The petitioner gave this argument
Lawyer Fahmeed Nawaz Ansari, while filing the petition, argued that before independence, Pakistan was a British colony and had adopted most of the British laws, including the judicial system.
The petitioner argues that the salaries and allowances in Pakistan should also be at par with America and Britain. A minimum wage of $1000 per month will increase the purchasing power of the citizens and will also encourage foreign investment in the country.
Pakistan’s situation is continuously worsening
- The World Bank, in its report released this year, has said that in the last one year, more than 12.5 million Pakistanis have fallen below the poverty line and now about 40% of the country’s population is struggling to meet their basic needs.
- The report urges the Pakistan government to take immediate action. Pakistan is facing economic crisis due to various reasons and its financial stability remains at risk.
- Poverty in Pakistan has increased from 34.2% to 39.4% in just one year. Also, more than 12.5 million people fell below the poverty line of $3.65 per day.
- About 95 million Pakistanis now live in poverty. Pakistan has the lowest per capita income in South Asia and the highest number of out-of-school children in the world.
Pakistan today faces a serious economic and human development crisis, and is at a point where major policy changes are required. Pakistan’s economic model is no longer able to reduce poverty and the standard of living has lagged behind peer countries. – Tobias Haque, Chief Economist of the World Bank
