Governmental Structures

Pakistan has somewhat a fragile parliamentary democracy. President is the head

of the state while PM is the head of local government. The government mainly
comprises of Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches, in which all powers and
duties are vested by the constitution in the Parliament the Prime Minister and the
Supreme Court The power and the duties of these branches are further defined by
Acts and Amendments of the Parliament, including the creation of departments and
courts inferior to Supreme Court. By constitutional powers the president
promulgates ordinances and passes bills. The President acts as ceremonial and Pm
acts as chief executive of the Executive Branch) and is responsible for running the
Federal government. There is a Bicameral Parliament with national Assembly as a
Lower House and Senate as an upper house. Most influential officials in government
of Pakistan are Federal Sectaries who are highest ranking bureaucrats and run
cabinet level ministries and divisions. The judicial Branch contain Supreme court
and lower courts. In other word’s Judiciary is a hierarchical system with two classes
of courts; the superior or higher judiciary and the sub ordinate or lower judiciary.
The superior judiciary is composed of Supreme courts, Federal Sharia court and five
high courts. There is a high court for each of the province as well as high court for
Islamabad capital territory. It is supreme court higher judiciary task to preserve,
protect and defend the constitution. Disputed regions of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit
Baltistan have separate court systems. Then there is ombudsmen that is an official is
appointed to investigate the individuals citizens’ complaints against other
government departments, a company business, financial institutions, universities or
any other governmental departments. The ombudsmen attempts to resolve the
conflicts or concerns raised either by mediation. The institution of Ombudsman is
aimed at protecting individual’s right without jeopardizing the efficacy of public
policies faced by most of the societies in the contemporary world but the functional
competence and the organizational structure of this institution varies from country to
country depending on peculiar circumstances of each case. It is legally established,
functionally autonomous, external to the administration, operationally independent
of both legislature and executive, non-political, sympathetic to citizens, not averse to
administration, freely accessible and practically having access to the documents
relevant to the impugned executive decision. The word Ombudsmen literally mean a
legal representative. Other name for it is watch dog. Unlike lawyers the ombudsmen
are impartial. Some are familiar with legal training however are not necessarily legal
experts and they cannot investigate a case submitted to a court. In Pakistan, there are
five ombudsmen that is Wafaqi Mohtasib, Federal Tax Ombudsmen, etc. The main
function of Federal Tax Ombudsman is to ensure disposal of complaints of
tax maladministration promptly, justly, fairly, independently investigated,
and to rectify any injustice done to a taxpayer by actions of the tax
employees of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)/Revenue Division,
Government of Pakistan.

The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) is a constitutional court of the Islamic

Republic of Pakistan, which has the power to examine and determine whether
the laws of the country comply with Sharia law. The court was established in
1980 during the government of the President General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. It
is located in the federal capital, Islamabad. It hears appeals under the Hudood
Ordinances, a religious legislation in the country introduced in 1979.
The Federal Shariat Court is the only constitutional authority in the country
designed to prevent enactment of un-Islamic laws by the parliament of Pakistan.
It is predominantly focused on to examine new or existing law of Pakistan. If a
law violates the Quran, Sunnah or hadith, it prohibits its enactment.
Legislative branch
The legislative branch has two houses, which combined are known as the
Parliament of Pakistan

The National Assembly is the lower house and has 342 members. 272 are

elected directly by the people, while 70 seats are reserved for women and
religious minorities.

The Senate is the upper house and has 104 senators elected indirectly by

members of provincial assemblies for six-year terms.
The Parliament enjoys parliamentary supremacy. All the Cabinet ministers as
well as the Prime Minister must be members of Parliament (MPs), according to
the constitution. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet Ministers are jointly
accountable to the Parliament. If there is a policy failure or lapse on the part of
the government, all the members of the cabinet are jointly responsible. If a vote
of no confidence is passed against the government, then the government
collapses and a new one must be formed.
What is executive body in Pakistan?
The Executive branch consists of the Cabinet and is led by the Prime Minister.
It is totally independent of the legislative branch that consists of a bicameral
parliament. The Upper House is the Senate whilst the National Assembly is the
lower house.
Senate
First convened in 1973, the Senate's composition and powers are established by
the Article 59 of the Constitution of Pakistan. Each of the four provinces are
represented by 23 senators regardless of population, while the Islamabad
Capital Territory is represented by four senators, all of whom serve staggered
six-year terms. The Senate secretariat is located in the east wing of
the Parliament Building; the National Assembly convenes in the west wing of
the same building.
The Senate has several exclusive powers not granted to the National Assembly,
including the powers of making parliamentary bills as a being enforced
into law. Elections are held every three years for one half of the Senate and each
Senator has a term of six years. The Constitution does not allow for the
dissolution of the Senate.

Demographics of Pakistan
How many languages are there in the Pakistan 2021?
There are between 70 and 80 languages spoken in Pakistan. Urdu is the
national language and one of two official languages. English is the other official
language.
Religion in Pakistan
96.47% are Muslims, followed by 2.14% Hindus, 1.27% Christians, 0.09%
Ahmadis and 0.02% others.

The official religion of Pakistan is Islam, as enshrined by Article 2 of

the Constitution, and is practised by approximately 96.47% of the country's
population. The remaining less than 4%
practice Hinduism, Christianity, Ahmadiyya, Sikhism and other religions. A
few aspects of Secularism have also been adopted by Pakistani constitution
from British colonial concept. However, religious minorities in Pakistan often
face significant discrimination, subject to issues such as violence and the
blasphemy laws.[15][16]
Muslims comprise a number of sects: the majority practice Sunni
Islam (estimated at 85–90%), while a minority practice Shia Islam (estimated at
10–15%). Most Pakistani Sunni Muslims belong to the Hanafi school of
jurisprudence, which is represented by
the Barelvi and Deobandi traditions. However, the Hanfi school is gaining
popularity recently due to Wahhabi influence from the Middle East. The
majority of Pakistani Shia Muslims belong to the Twelver Islamic law school,
with significant minority groups who practice Ismailism, which is composed
of Nizari (Aga Khanis), Mustaali, Dawoodi Bohra, Sulaymani, and others.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted Pakistan to be a secular, democratic and liberal

state. Pakistan was secular from 1947-1955 and after that adopted a constitution
in 1956 becoming an Islamic republic with Islam as its state religion. Recently
Pakistani law maker Mohsin Dawar and his colleagues have launched a party
called National Democratic Movement (NDM) with an aim to promote a
secular, deferral and democratic parliamentary system throughout Pakistan. The
party’s manifesto is to establish just, peaceful, tolerant and humane society.

The ethnic composition

1. Punjabi
2. Pakhtoon
3. Sindhi
4. Baluchi

URBANIZATION

Urbanization the term introduced in 1801 is shifting of people to, or rise of

people living in, urban cities. The basic reasons of urbanization why it came
into existence were:
1. Better Standard of Living.
2. Less of Agricultural hand work, improvements in agriculture work which
reduce number of rural workers, and more of Industrial smart work.
3. Better medical, health, educational, entertainment, recreational and
amusements.
4. Better transportation and communication.
 Urbanization is both a physical and a sociological concept and process.

The whole irrigation land, forest, lake area and river area are converting into
building; this we are calling as Urbanization. Man is destructing all nature and he
himself proudly calling it as development.

Urbanisation is the increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities,
also the transformation of rural area to an urban area.
Some of the reasons which leads to urbanisation are :-
1. Job opportunities in industries
2. Better schooling , and housing facilities in cities
3. The availability of more reliable sources of food in cities.
4. The availability of infrastructure ( roads, rail, and air transport
and electricity, water, and natural gas) in rural areas.
5. The abundance of natural resources and expertise required to
exploit these resources.
6. Loans given by the government to people make them more self
sufficient even in rural areas.
7. Availability of basic necessities of life in urban areas.
8. Higher birth rates eventually leads to urbanisation.
9. Rural-Urban Migration also causes urbanisation.
10. Establishment of cottage, small-scale and tertiary industries also
leads to urbanisation.
Urbanization is viewed as escaping traditional patriarchy and experience new
freedom i.e., greater access to education, health, and employment. However, for
many who seek these opportunities the opposite occurs, resulting in greater
poverty, exclusion, vulnerability, and marginalization. This thus results in
creation of urban slums and eventually they face unhealthy living conditions
without access to the very opportunities they sought in the first place.
Urbanization is also re-developing people and not just cities. It’s not just
displacing people and creating economic hardships for them but it’s making
people’s life easy. Urbanization is the process whereby cities grow into what
was once farmland and wild areas. It involved mass movement of people from
countryside into towns and cities. The MAIN DRIVER IS ECONOMIC
ACTIVITY where jobs are located.

Because Pakistan is overpopulated poor country, it has

always been short on supply side and high on demand
side.

Urbanization refers to the increasing number of people that live in urban areas.
There has been considerate growth in urban population since 6 decades. So
much so that Pakistan is now predominantly urban. Urban population mainly
results from THREE MAIN FACTORS:

1) There is a natural population increase.

2) Urban areas expand and grow, previously considered rural areas are
transformed into urban areas.
3) There is migration from rural to urban i.e., areas adjacent to urban areas
over a period of time assume urban characteristics due to spill over urban
effect and activities and migrants settle in these PERI-URBAN areas.
Urban growth and particularly rural-urban migration are normally
attributed to PUSH and PULL factors.

By 2050 it is predicted that 65% and 86% of the developing and developed
world would be respectively urbanized. Urbanization is also a process by which
a community acquires the characteristics of city life. It is also growth and
development of cities with high degree of population density. In other words,
urbanization means the increase of urban population over time. Urbanization is
also historic transformation whereby rural culture predominately becomes urban
in nature. In the past various societies evolved, such as hunting society (which
hunt or trapped animals for food). Agrarian societies rely largely upon
cultivation of crops to feed themselves. Hunting societies tend to be nomads and
not the agrarian societies. Gradually it turned out to be transformed into
industrial societies. With the development of this industry, there was a massive
movement from rural to urban areas. Hence, urbanization does not only include
the migration of people, but also the migration of facilities/ infrastructure, such
as creation of park or recreational facilities with recreational space and
opportunity, would be urbanization. Urbanization is therefore both physical as
well as sociological concept and process. It is also when rural area gradually
transforms itself into a town or village and then takes on more of urban
qualities. Through urbanization, cities grow or even die. In 1935, there was a
massive earthquake in Quetta to the point it was truly destroyed in the same way
in 2005 earthquake Muzaffarabad, Balakot much parts were destroyed but now
are rebuilt. So natural calamities may cause destruction or die out of cities. In
Islamabad it was nothing and when saturation was too much in Karachi,
Government decided to move capital to Attock but later moved to Islamabad
which is about 50 years old. Mangla is Mirpur (not Khas) it is good planning. In
the same way due to Fauji needs, regiment cities like Kamra and Wah Cantt
government developed. Then due to people needs people moved to urban areas
so in last 50 years too much migration to Karachi from KPK and Punjab hence
in Karachi many migrants are there. Also due to war on terror people migrated
from Peshawar to Karachi and Islamabad and people did not move back to
Peshawar but opted to stay here in Islamabad or Karachi. In the past there was
attraction in rural areas in the form of pure milk, vegetables, ghee and pure
food, high quality food, but even now it is not the case anymore. Even the
villages now use the same food that which we urbanites are using so it’s a push
factor of movement from rural to urban.

There are also reasons that move in the name of development is causing
destruction to the nature and doing construction of buildings there and cutting
its development. Humans are also social animals thus they have a tendency to
create large communities which is natural in human societies where people
prefer to be a part of that society and not live alone. Humans find security in
numbers. More the people more work can be done. This causes more complex
societies.

Migration reasons:
1. Push factors or PUSH OUT factors are those NEGATIVE or
UNDESIRABLE which cause residents to leave rural areas. Such as decline in
agricultural growth, production, tractorization, replacing farmers, floods and
natural calamities, catastrophes, shortage of water, rural people moving to urban
areas to search jobs. The consequents are slum areas, population explosion and
the challenges are lack of necessity amenities, resources, crowding places and
transport system etc. Push out factors are like negative side of urbanization. Due
to overpopulation the capacity to provide basic infrastructure gets hampered; it
causes social problems such as increase in crime rate, drug addiction, violence
against women, child labor, spread of diseases. Economic problems such as
unemployment, stress on existing resources, political administrative issues such
as slum areas and lack of development, educational problems such as in urban
areas poor people hardly send their children to school as compared to other
socioeconomic strata’s. So the gap between poor and rich exists.
2. PULL factors are the LURE or the POSITIVE ones to urban areas where
urbanization is perceived as development. Urban pull means urban areas are
attracting rural people and having necessary space to accommodate these
migrants. Urban pull is the POSITIVE SIDE of the term Urbanization. Urban
pull is when urban area is perceived with better job opportunities, health and
educational facilities for children, aspiration to urban culture, “bright lights
phenomenon”. The result is increase in urban slums which can even be worse
than rural areas. So now there are RURAL, PERI-URBAN, and URBAN areas.
There seems a cultural shift. Urban trends are moving towards Western
dressing, mobile communications. Fast food chains are getting opened in many
big and small cities. Cities like Jhelum, Kharian, Wazirabad boomed in number
of population in last 2 decades. Similarly private colleges less expensive ones
guarantee market-based education in English language, such as Mian Amir’s
Punjab Group of Colleges. It has 13 campuses and is a flagship one. Moreover,
the services which were once considered urban some years ago such as
electricity, education, TV, communication, transport, internet are visible in rural
areas. One million mobile phone users are added each month, means so called
villages have access to this technology now and use internet facility. It is now
important to start to think about why we have such binaries as Rural and Urban.
 These seem worn out concepts. In other words, now society has become fluid,
and changes are taking place fast in time. In the past rural areas has enjoyed in
agriculture and urban in manufacturing, industrial, commerce and such
occupations. Rural urban are being redefined now; there are town population
within rural areas and similarly non-rural village population: perhaps a new way
of thinking is needed now to redefine rural and urban areas.

Population Growth in Eco-development in Pakistan:

At the time of independence Pakistan was 13th most populous country in the
world and today it is 6th most populous country, and 2nd in the world in terms of
Muslims’ majority after Indonesia. Pakistan also has the HIGHEST BIRTH as
well as TOTAL FERTILITY rate among Asian countries. Pakistan population
growth is also highest in Asia (2010). Due to Push and Pull factors rural to
urban migration increased manyfold from 6 million in 1951 to 57 million in
2008. The frequency of females has followed an increasing trend. This is
distressing and painful. There seems no quick solution to this problem.
Polygamy seems viable but it will cause more confusion and we can’t adopt
western values. Family planning program, women literacy and enhancement of
women’s social status seem viable solutions.

There are many other reasons which have been and are still contributing to the
current population explosion in the country. Some of those points are mentioned and
explained below.
 Under-age Marriages : Deeply rooted in tradition, culture and customary practices,
child marriage remains a widespread practice across Pakistan. Early marriage
increases the chances of children being born early , which disturbs the death-
rate and death-rate ratio.
 Refugee Addition : The arrival of a large number of refugees from Afghanistan
during the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989 has made Pakistan the
world’s largest host of refugees and also resulted in more population.If i remember
correctly, almost 7 million Afghan refugees came to Pakistan and today, nearly 2
million are still living in Pakistan.
 Absence of Family Planning : Effective family planning is not available in
Pakistan. People are not familiar with the methods of family planning due to
illiteracy. They feel hesitation to consult a doctor.Many of them believe that GOD
gives them children, if He hadn’t wanted them to have children , He would have
stopped giving them children.
 Illiteracy : Due to lack of education, people are not aware of the economic problems
caused by high birth rate. Literacy rate is 57.7 % in Pakistan.
 Polygamy Practice : Polygamy is the condition or practice of having more than one
wife at one time. The existence of polygamy also contributes to the increase in
population.
 Urbanization : Due to rural urban migration and lack of facilities in cities, there are
many social problems. It results in increase in urban population. Higher rate of
urbanization is an indicator of over population.
 Low savings and Investments : The rate of saving and investment of GDP are only
9.5% and 13.4% respectively in Pakistan. Rate of investment and employment is also
very low due to low rate of savings. So these contribute in over-population.
 Poverty : Pakistan is a poor country is often dependent upon foreign aid.Vicious
circle of poverty is also a symbol of over population.Very high population growth
rate reduces the per capita income, saving, investment and productivity. A country is
thus caught up in vicious circle of poverty.
 Low per-Capita Income : The population growth reduces per capita income of the
people because national income is divided by a big size of population.
 Due to lack of knowledge about the problems we are facing due to over population.
Even the educated people don’t realize the hazard of over-population.
Most of Pakistan’s population is poor. And these people mostly have many children.

Population growth and Economic Development:

The consequences of rapid population growth is being debated. There is a

school of thought which believes that:
1. rapid population growth is NOT a REAL PROBLEM; but there are other
issues.
2. Population reduction is a conspiracy of capitalist countries to keep
developing countries in their dependence.
3. For many countries population growth is desirable.

1. Population Growth Is Not A Problem: The argument is

UNDERDEVELOPMENT and NOT POPULATION GROWTH is a real
problem. There is no motivation for poor families to limit their family size. In
fact, larger the family, larger the child labor force, children who can earn for
their parents. Also, it’s not the population as such but ‘POPULATION
DISTRIBUTION’ is causing population problem. Some regions are under-
populated such as Baluchistan while other areas are overly populated such as
Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad due to concentration of employment opportunities
and rural-urban migration. Hence instead of population growth government
should discourage rural-urban migration to such areas. Also, another important
factor in Pakistan is natural outcome of women’s lack of economic opportunity.
Women bear the burden of poverty, poor education, less education (males 67%
literate, females 46%, whereas males are 51% in total, and females are 49%).
The inferior status of women and their roles are reflected in their high fertility
as they are bound to four walls of homes and to produce and rear-up children. If
women’s status, education, economic wellbeing is improved, this will lead to
smaller families and lower population growth.
2. Capitalist Countries Conspiracies: This argument is that developed countries
attempt to arrest the development of developing countries in order to maintain
their international status quo that serves their self-interest. This is neo-colonial
dependance model, an outgrowth of Marxist thinking.
3. Population Growth Is Otherwise Desirable Too: i.e., high population growth
adds to labor supply that can be used for productive purposes and provide
potential for large market for services. Neoclassical economists claim free
markets always adjust to the problems created by the population growth.

Other Consequences of Population Growth, Urbanization

The population growth is among one of the most crucial factors which increase
the level of “FOOD INSECURITY”. Producing sufficient food for growing
population has always been a challenge. It comes with urbanization, with
urbanization comes pressure on agricultural land where people start using these
land urban development instead of agricultural production and thus it leads to
food insecurity.
Water Shortage also causes food insecurity. Water is essential requirement for
agricultural production. It is theorized 15% of world population is
undernourished due to uneven supply of water for household food processing.
Find insecurity and Sustainable Development Goods (SDGs) are inseparable.
The soul of SDG is to end hunger, achieve food security and promote
sustainable agriculture. The goal is commitment to “ZERO HUNGER” by the
end of 2030. Food insecurity is a main challenge for the whole world. A stable
government makes efficient effective policies and plays an important role to
overcome food shortage by making efficient policies and implementing them
for eradication of food insecurity.
Due to rapid urbanization in Pakistan, up to 13% of Pakistan’s urban population
is food insecure. It means residents of urban areas of Pakistan do not have
access to clean drinking water. Then there is shortage of water, imposing
adverse effects on health of residents of country.
Then large number of farmers are rigid and strict with traditional method of
cultivation and are hesitant to adopt new methods of production in agricultural
sector. The dependency of farmers in conservation method causes food
insecurity.
Policy makers need to make sound policies to address the issue of food
insecurity.
There is a nexus between urbanization and food insecurity, a new area of
developmental economies. Many studies examined link between urbanization
and food insecurity and found a negative relationship between these two
variables. The case studies also concluded that urbanization tends to increase
food insecurity. The same relationship between these two variables has been
observed in other countries like China.
Work and energy are also significant predictors of food security. Water is vital
for irrigation of crops and food processing. Other than the implementation of
effective policies of governments GREEN REVOLUTION technologies (R&D)
are intended to increase the level of food supply for national self-reliance and
for export which in turn reduces the level of food insecurity.