I was scrolling through my phone when a message popped up in the official WhatsApp group, sharing the latest minimum wage notification. The sender’s intention was likely to disseminate this important information quickly, especially given its relevance in a CA firm dealing with taxation and audit. However, there is an inherent paradox: almost no trainee is being paid a minimum wage — the wage designated for unskilled workers.

Albeit, the notification is made under The Minimum Wages Ordinance 1961, which itself, defines a “worker” as “any person including an apprentice employed in any industry to do any skilled or un-skilled, intellectual, technical, clerical, manual or other work, including domestic work, for hire or reward.” It’s clear that the spirit of the law is lost. Trainees, despite their potential, find themselves excluded from this provision.

It is perhaps the myopia of elitism that has culminated into an irony par excellence. While the foregoing predicament for trainees may not be as awful due to their impending prospects, for the real unskilled workers who are not receiving the minimum wage, it is a matter for which the authorities should be held accountable.

Notwithstanding this, the very concept of a minimum wage is fraught with complications. The relentless inflation and economic turmoil our country is enduring have only deepened our dependence on the IMF—a relationship that has spanned over 66 years, dating back to 1958.

In terms of numbers, cumulative inflation has exceeded more than 109pc, debt per capita increased from $823 in 2011 to $1,122 in 2023, while GDP per capita declined from $1,295 to $1,223 over the same period. Our country ranks 161th out of 191 in the Human Development Index and 145th out of 146 countries in the Global Gender Index as per Global Gender Gap Report 2024 of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Further compounding this grim picture, more than 58.7 million people in Pakistan are living below the poverty line. Poverty levels have surged from 34.2% in 2022 to 39.4% in 2023, pushing an additional 12.5 million people below the poverty line, as reported by World Bank officials. This exacerbates the already dire economic conditions and highlights the growing inequality in society.

Given this socio-economic bloodbath, one might wonder whether this crisis is universal, or a condition deliberately imposed upon the downtrodden.

The situation, both globally and locally, is not surprising. According to Oxfam, global wealth has surged by $42 trillion since 2020, with 63% ($26 trillion) captured by the top 1% of the ultra-rich. From 1995 to 2021, the wealth of the wealthiest 1% accounted for 38% of the global wealth increase, while the bottom 50% saw only 2% of the gains. Billionaire wealth has skyrocketed to unprecedented levels.

The indigenous scene mirrors this global trend. In his book “Out of the Box: Structural Reforms for Pakistan,” Zafar Masud notes that South Asia reflects this global disparity: “the ratio of the average income of the poorest 10% to the richest 10% is 6.5. In other words, the average income for the richest is more than 16 times that of the poorest. The ratio of the poorest 20% to the richest 20% is 4.8 for Pakistan… The Gini coefficient - a measure frequently used to indicate the extent of inequality- is the worst of Pakistan: 29.6 as against 32.4 for Bangladesh, 35.7 for India and 38 for the world as a whole.” Furthermore, it’s reported that just 5% of large landholders in Pakistan own 64% of the total farmland, while 65% of small farmers hold only 15% of the land.

Anyone with a modicum of sense can gauge the severity of inequality in our society from these facts and figures.

Albeit, it’s been a while, still pertinent to mention the digital “mayhem” that scourged me: “the tragedy of Monal”. The internet was flooded with lamentations from the elite, painting it as a “return to the Stone Age.” One might wonder where these same individuals are when people are driven to suicide due to horrific utility bills, inflated retail prices for basic necessities, or forced to send their children into brutal labor because they cannot afford both education and basic survival.

I am not here to argue whether Monal should or should not have been shut down. The real issue is the disturbing myopia that characterizes our society, which, in itself, warrants critique. Why is hoarding any commodity amid supply-demand chaos viewed as immoral, while hoarding money is seen as neutral? It shouldn’t require an in-depth discourse to understand this disparity. Perhaps it is the architects of wealth inequality who also set the moral framework for our societal ills.

Furqan Ali
The writer is a Peshawar-based researcher who works in the financial sector.