Almost 75% of Pakistans population is either under or just above or around the poverty line because most in this country lacks even the necessities. According to a recent UN assessment, the poor households are especially unable to meet medical expenses that have suddenly increased by 30%in 2008. There are many reasons for the large scale poverty here such as unemployment, underemployment, lack of awareness, economic determinants, inflation, decreasing subsidies and an over all decrease in the GDP of the country. In my view, the current up surge in poverty has been caused, most of all, by poor governance. -WASHAL SHAH KHAN, Karachi, October 24.