47. Pakistan Economic Survey 2011-12 - Consultancy Services in ...

Pakistan Economic Survey 2011-12National Internship Program: The first phase ofthe National Internship Program (NIP) has beencompleted. Under the first phase, 25,826 applicantswere offered internship at the Federal, Provincialand District government levels. The second phaseof the NIP was launched in February 2008. A totalof 71,915 applications were received. So far21,138 applications have been verified by HECand NADRA and are being placed in ministries,divisions, departments and provincial governmentsand at district level.Investing in Increasing Water Resources:Agriculture is the largest sector of Pakistan’seconomy and provides employment to nearly 45percent of the country’s work force. More thantwo‐ thirds of the county’s population lives in therural areas and depends directly or indirectly on theagriculture sector for their livelihood. GDP growthoriginating in agriculture is more effective inraising the income of the poor and increasingoverall employment than other sectors of theeconomy. The major constraint in Pakistan’sagriculture has been the lack of availability ofwater resources. The government is making aheavy investment to develop water resourceswhich will not only be helpful in increasing wateravailability and electricity but will also expand theemployment opportunities in the country.Employee Projection Policies: Efforts are beingmade to establish an efficient, equitable and rightsbasedlabour market that provides mechanisms toallow productivity growth in the economy andresult in real wage increases. The Zakat fundprovides a monthly subsistence allowance and arehabilitation grant is given to all the needyMuslims. The Bait-ul-Mall Fund has differentprojects such as Individual Financial Assistance,Free Skill Development and the Food SupportProgramme for helping the needy people. ThePublic Sector Benevolent Fund and GroupInsurance provide benefits to governmentemployees especially in the form of educationscholarships to their children and other financialaid at the time of emergency.Export of ManpowerThe government of Pakistan is making sincereefforts to boost overseas employment which willnot only reduce the unemployment burden in thecountry but will also increase remittances andthereby help to improve the economy of Pakistan.In this regard, MoUs have been signed with severallabour importing countries like Malaysia, Kuwait,and Qatar. The number of emigrants was 0.43million in 2008 which increased to 0.46 million in2011, as shown in Table 12.18Table 12.17: Number of Pakistani workers registered for overseas employment through Bureau ofEmigration & Overseas Employment during the period 2008-2011S.# Countries 2008 2009 2010 20111 UAE 221765 140889 113312 156353Kuwait 6250 1542 153 1733 Malaysia 1756 2435 3287 20924 Oman 37441 34089 37878 535255 Qatar 10171 4061 3039 51216 Saudi Arabia 138283 201816 189888 2222477 UK 756 556 430 308Source: Bureau of Emigration and Overseas EmploymentSaudi Arabia being a Muslim state is attractive formillions of Pakistani workers seeking jobs abroad.Due to this fact Saudi Arabia has become thelargest market for Pakistani workers in the worldbesides the Gulf States such as United ArabEmirate (UAE), Oman and Kuwait. The number ofemigrants in Saudi Arabia has increased from 0.14million in 2008 to 0.22 million in 2011. PresentlyPakistan is exporting skilled, semi-skilled andunskilled labour. Table 12.18 presents labourexport statistics during the 2008-2011 period.174