According toAristotle, an Ancient Greek Philosopher:
“The state comes into existence for the sake of life, but exists for the sake of the good life.”
So, by definition, the state is not only to maintain order or survival, but to ensure human flourishingwhich include education, justice, virtue, and welfare. It means a good state provides the conditions for people to live well, not just to live.
According to thinkers like T.H. Green and John Rawls, the state is viewed as:
“A moral institution that exists to secure not only rights but also the welfare of people, such as health, education, and opportunity, for all.”
The state is a provider of social justice, not merely a controller of power.
According to Article 38(d) of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1973):
“The State shall provide basic necessities of life, such as food, clothing, housing, education and medical relief, for all such citizens as are permanently or temporarily unable to earn their livelihood on account of infirmity, sickness or unemployment.”
But reality is different?
Areport by the World Bank indicates that about 44.7% of Pakistan’s population, which means approximately 107.9 million people,are living under the international poverty line. Poverty line is referred to asa minimum incometo meet basic needs like food, shelter, and clothing. It is 4.20$ per day for lower-middle-income countries like Pakistan.
The World Bank also introduced a new benchmark for extreme poverty, setting it at $3 per day. By this measure, around 16.5% of Pakistan’s population, that is, almost 39.8 million people, are living under the extreme poverty category.
Even if we use Pakistan’s national poverty line, reports show that around 25.3%are under the poverty line in 2024, which almost becomes “more than 60 million” people.
The new classification of the World Bank also has an upper-middle-income poverty threshold which is $8.30 per day, report shows around 88.4% of Pakistanis fall into this category, further highlighting the country’s deepening economic challenges and the pressures on low-income households. Simply shows poor are becoming poor with time.
Since 2020, inflation has consistently outpaced salary growth. While average pay has increased by around 10–12% per year, consumer prices have risen 20–30% annually during the crisis years.This means real purchasing power has fallen sharply workers earn more on paper, but what they can actually buy has decreased.
A report suggests: “The wealthiest 10 percent of households own 60 percent of household wealth, while the least wealthy 60 percent own just one‐tenth of it.” Since rich own the most assets, they remain unbothered by inflation.
We can also say that indirect taxes make up around 60–65% of Pakistan’s total tax revenue.This shows Pakistan relies heavily on taxes that affect everyone equally, not based on income level.
They say the state is like a mother. As in a house mother is responsible for well well-being of her children, the state is also responsible not only to protect its citizens but also for the basic needs of its citizens. At the end, I just want to ask what kind of mother our state is?