Enormous disparities are found among different regions and provinces of Pakistan, some of these are due to natural factors while others can be ascribed to bad planning and faulty management of affairs. In the following text we shall make an attempt to understand these underlying factors. The Punjab has 11 crore population, Sindh 4 crore 78 lac, KPK 3 crore 51 Lac and Baluchistan 1 crore 23 Lac according to 2017 population census report. Baluchistan covers about 44% of the total area of Pakistan and the Punjab only 26%. This shows that the population of Pakistan is very unevenly divided. Out of the total 26 cities having a population of more than three lacs, only one (i.e., Quetta) is located in Baluchistan. Only one out of the five most populous cities of the country i.e., Karachi is located in the province of Sind, the remaining four are in the Punjab, these are Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala respectively.
Due to better living conditions and better business facilities available in the cities, people are migrating in great numbers from rural to urban areas. This trend is creating enormous social, cultural and economic problems, big cities are expanding at unmanageable pace, investment is being diverted only to the urban areas. Health and Education facilities are being concentrated Only in big cities. Rural areas are falling short of basic life amenities; their sense of deprivation is gradually mounting. Commenting on this, an economist A. Hamid Shahid observes that this state of affairs will result in the creation of a few islands of wealth and affluence surrounded by an endless ocean of poverty and privation.
Economists of the old school believe that disparities are a natural corollary of the process. of economic development and this is a universal phenomenon; still other experts believe that this problem has no short-cut remedy, it must take its time before it cures itself. Modern economists are of the opinion that problems of urbanization and regional disparities have a permanent nature and are bound to intensify as the process of economic development progresses.
Former East Pakistan is an unfortunate example, in the year 1959 annual per capita income of the province was 32% lower than the per capita income in the west wing. This disparity proved to be the root cause of the province's separation from the rest of Pakistan. In order to prevent such ominous incidents from recurring, this tendency needs to be effectively checked. In addition to that, imbalance between different parts of each province is also noticeable, for example, the central Punjab is much more prosperous than the southern Punjab, and same is the position in other provinces.
There is also great disequilibrium with respect to industrial development. Most of the industry in the province of Sind is concentrated in Karachi and Hyderabad. In the province of Punjab, cities like Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Sheikhupura and Lahore have the biggest concentration of industrial units, remainder of the Punjab has little or no industrial development. Baluchistan and the KPK are industrially undeveloped although the government has declared "Hub" in Baluchistan and Gadoon in the KPK as tax-free zones and have given incentives for setting up industries, yet these provinces have to cover a long way before they come at par with the Punjab and Sind.
Provision of basic requirements has a direct bearing on the economic development. Referred to as "infrastructure", these basic requirements include railways, roadways, telephone, telegraph, television, newspapers, electronics networks, newspapers and postal and courier service etc. In our case, the provinces and the cities which had better infra structure made rapid progress in the past in respect of industrial development and per capita income. Educated and skilled people moved to big cities like Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta, because these cities had banks, hospitals, colleges and other education institutions and offered better employment opportunities.
Feudalism is an important factor responsible for keeping the rural society backward. Almost all industrialization took place in the urban areas and agriculture sector made rapid progress in the regions where large land holdings (Jagirdari or feudalism) did not exist, for example Lahore, Sahiwal, Sialkot, Okara, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala and Faisalabad districts in the Punjab. The spread of education and prosperity meant loosening of the shackles of feudalistic hold over the people who were kept like slaves from times. immemorial. The feudal lords made all possible efforts to put obstacles in the way of human development and did all they could to keep areas under their control as backward as possible.
Another factor that interposed barriers in the way of progress and development was bureaucracy. High government functionaries provided facilities in the areas of their priority, these were obviously big cities. We know that countries like Pakistan are always faced with budget deficits; to control the budget deficit and restrict inflation, monetary cuts have to be levied. History shows that our bureaucracy levied all these cuts on the development projects which were to be carried out in the rural areas. Development budgets of the areas like Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi always kept inflating.
This state of affairs may prove explosive for the national life, but the imminent disaster cannot be averted by taking recourse to merely cosmetic remedies. In order to bring about substantial change, comprehensive social and political transformation is required; broadening of the economic base of the society will strengthen the deprived classes and weaken the oppressors. Economic development can only take place in an environment of peace and tranquility. We should follow the tradition of Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah Hudaibia. Hazrat Muhammad Rasool Ullah set at granted all the demands of the opponents, fair or unfair, in order to achieve peace for his people.
Influence of Climate on Human Life
The climate in different parts of the earth is not the same. It differs from place to place. These variations in the climate have deep effects on people and their way of life. We can study this difference in our own country. In the northern and north western highlands people build houses with sloping roofs to make them safe from abundant rainfall and snowfall. In Karachi, Hyderabad and other Sind areas sea breeze blows throughout the year, this reduces the effect of high temperature. Windows and ventilators are provided at such height in the houses as to receive maximum sea breeze. In northern highlands people wear heavy clothes and outdoor sports generally are not possible. During winter people mostly stay in their homes. People in some areas migrate to plains during winter to earn their livelihood.
Local winds in deserts are usually very hot at day time. In Pakistan these winds are called loo. They make human life uncomfortable. Pakistan deserts, Thal, Thar and Cholistan, therefore, are sparsely populated.
Murree, Ayubia, Nathiagali, Abbottabad, Shogran, Naran, Kalam and number of hill resorts in the valleys of Hazara and Chitral in the northern highlands attract tourism due to their pleasant summers and scenic beauty.
To the south of the Hindu Kush there are a number of rivers that make the land fertile. They pass through Chitral, Swat and Dir. In the villages of these valleys people farm and cultivate land.
River Indus provides Pakistan with its best agricultural land and irrigation system. That is why a very big portion of country's population lives in the Indus plains. Most of the big cities and towns of Pakistan are situated in this area.
