The agriculture sector markets in Pakistan remain a mix of price interventions by the state for some crops like wheat, rice, cotton, etc. and a free market situation for other crops like potato. Through the instant study, an attempt has been made to calculate as how free market-like sit-uation impacts upon producers and consumers surpluses as compared with earlier studies where state interventions result in disproportionate producer and consumer surplus. The calculation of producer and consumer surplus is derived from supply and demand curves of a commodity. That is, the supply and demand model is not just a model of how a competitive market works—it’s also a model of how much consumers and producers gain from participating in that market. A differential model has been used for computation of welfare effects such as changes in producers and consumers surpluses (ΔPS & ΔCS) using data from 1986 to 2005. The results showed that due to prevalence of free trade situation in potato’s domestic economy, insignificant changes occurred in terms of producers and consumers’ surpluses in potato crop as against higher PS/CS of crops under state intervention such as wheat consumers surplus was Rs.3463 million per year while producers suffered losses in their producers surpluses to the tune of Rs.3102 million per year (Zulfiqar, 2008), gains to consumers of cotton crop of Rs.12463.10 million per year against losses to producers to the tune of Rs.12648.44 million per year (Zulfiqar, 2009) and gains to consumers of rice crop of Rs.448.76 million per year against losses to producers to the tune of Rs.657.95 million per year (Zulfiqar, 2009) . Based on these results, it has been recommended that governments should avoid interventions in commodity markets. This recom-mendation is true for all countries at global level.
Kitchen Gardening refers to the home based vegetable farming and it is significantly a prof-itable venture for engaged household (both for men and women). The study recorded that an individual house hold involved in kitchen gardening produced 70 percent vegetables required for its 5-7 members family consumption from an area of 05 Marla plot during Rabi and Kahrif season of the year. Additionally the families practicing Kitchen gardening shared vegetables with relatives and immediate neighbors as a free gift. The families in all sites noted appropriate savings amounting to Pakistani Rupees. 7200, 9000 and 10200 as profit margins per less than three Marla, 3 Marla and Five Marla plots respectively in all three sites. The involved families were found in access to quality, nutritious foods and useful utilization of their leisure time. Female vegetables gardeners of all the three sites were found quite satisfied, although they were facing problems in time allocation for vegetable sowing and management. Few families noted lack of quality vegetable seeds, high prices of inputs, adulteration in inputs, heavy infestation of insects’ pests on summer vegetables crops, and lack of necessary guidance and trainings in high value vegetable farming. Home based value addition of vegetables was also a problem when production was in excess to their kitchen use. In light of the research study necessary policy recommendations have been made for future consideration.
The rationale of the study lies in identifying the impacts of cultural dimensions on customer satisfaction on the hospitality and tourism industry of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Quan-titative survey was conduccted comprising 250 visitors of five hotels in Swat and Peshawar as sample of the study. Data was tabulated and processed via SPSS software. This study adds value to the literature in the following two ways; firstly it provides broader understanding on significance of hospitality and tourism sector as a business engine boosting the country’s economic growth. Secondly it provides detail understanding of the linkage of three dimensions of Hofstede Cultural Model with customer satisfaction in tourism industry. Out of five dimensions of the study only three were selected due to its relevance to the culture of Islamic Republic of Pakistan and its importance in tourism industry. Findings of the study proved the significant bond between two cultural determinants and its importance in generating loyal customers in tourism industry. Power distance, individualism/collectivism relationship with customer satisfaction were statisti-cally significant and the third variable masculinity/ feminism was found in insignificant range showing visitors indifference towards the masculinity/ feminity in ranking their responses in their level of satisfaction.The findings of the study would be helpful for marketing management and tourism industry to take care of cultural diversities while customizing their promotional cam-paigns to national and international visitors. This study has the potential to boost up the overall brand image of Pakistan in the world market which can attract foreign tourist’s attention.
Infrastructure has a vital role in economic development of a country. Agriculture being the vital sector for the economic development of a country requires its infrastructure development enabling it to contribute its role for the purpose. This initiative is particularly important in case of KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), where rural areas constitute more than 70 percent of the total population and depend upon agriculture sector. The present study was therefore carried out to assess the infrastructure of agriculture sector in KP enabling the concerned development specialist to devise development initiative for strengthening the role of agriculture sector in the economy of the KP. The study was qualitative in nature and thirty farmers were interviewed using Merriam’s (1998) procedure of general qualitative and characterization procedure wherein themes and categories were identified and recorded. Verbatim remarks of the farmers were indicated through quotations within each theme while pseudonyms were the indicators to denote the farmers. Results of the study revealed specific themes from the farmer’s interviews depicting the impacts of infrastructure had on farmer’s facilitation and services role. These themes include: (a) problems in farm to market roads, (b) issues in availability of water for irrigation, (c) seed, fertilizers and pesticides provision in villages, (d) availability of vegetables processing and packing facility and (e) government or private advisory service for farmers. Based on the results it is suggested that there are some common areas which require initiative to be taken by the development professionals for comprehensive assessment and development of infrastructure in respective areas of agriculture sector for subsequent enhancement of productivity in agriculture sector complementing its role in economic development.
Noah Westar’s Dictionary (2002) describes that rote learning is that type of learning which comes in the mind of the students by a frequent repetition of the items. In most of the English language teaching methods repetition of the words or rote learning is frequently used by the stu-dents. The present study tries to evaluate the role of rote learning in the achievement of students in the writing skill of English language at secondary level. For the sample of the study a group of fifty students were selected from class IX. Two sub-groups (Experimental Group and Control Group) were formed from these fifty students through pair random sampling on the basis of pre-test result. The researcher used a teacher made test for the research. The test was comprised of the first five units of the English textbook 1 Grade IX. Two teachers of the same designation, qualification and experience were selected to teach the prescribed two groups for a period of eight weeks. Paired sample t-test and analysis of variance was used for the analysis of the data taken from all the three tests. Further the study tried to explore how can the teacher use this method of rote learning and accomplish to teach English language effectively.
This paper reports the findings of a study recently conducted in Swat valley Pakistan. Thestudy seeks to explore how the influx of migrants from rural areas to the city in Mingora hasimpacted the socioeconomics, demographics, health facilities and environment during the last decade.Primary data were collected through a questionnaire administered to respondent’s vis-a-vispersonal observation of the area. Urbanization has a lot of economic, social and environmentalimpacts on the internal economy of both leading and lagging economies. The present study exploresthe urbanization and its impact on environment in Mingora, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. Itexplores problems which have affected the social life, health and hygiene of the local area. Moreover,multi-dimensional techniques were applied for the exploration of environmental problemsof urbanization. The major findings of the study suggests that urbanization leads to unplannedindustrialization, lack of drainage system, noise, water and air pollution, insufficient managementof solid waste materials and evolution of toxic gases from the existing industries. Allthese problems give birth to very serious diseases which affect the survival and life standard ofthe residents. The study suggests that the government and social workers must plan awarenessprograms, industrial sites should be transferred from the residential areas and sanitation anddrainage system must be built to conform to environment friendly set up in order to minimizeenvironmental issues.
The present research started from the presumption that Punjabi proverbs are rich with agri-cultural information and have a lot of guidelines for the farmers. When the research started, it was found that the area of Punjabi agricultural proverbs was still unexplored. A sample of 362 agriculture related Punjabi proverbs was collected, from a Punjabi dictionary of proverbs, Saa-day Akhan (Our Proverbs) (Malik, 2004). Through the use of purposive sampling, proverbs were chosen with the help of Punjabi farmers and the students of an agriculture university. The short-listed proverbs were then translated into English and divided into major and sub-categories based on their thematic content. Linguistic anthropology and Eco-Linguistics are used as theo-retical frameworks. A mixed approach of using both the quantitative and qualitative methods has been applied for the analysis of the data. The findings of this research show that apart from the historical relevance of Punjabi agricultural proverbs, a lot of proverbs guide about various aspects of agriculture, such as proper time for sowing, use of fertilizers, plowing, hard work, selection of farms etc. Punjabi proverbs also foretell the weather on the basis of certain symbols and observations of the environment. Rainfall at the proper time and out of season rainfall affects crops very much. This research concludes that apart from historical relevance, Punjabi proverbs are rich with agricultural information even for the contemporary agriculturalists. These proverbs contain enormous information for farmers to gain good yield of crops so these agricul-tural proverbs should be made a part of the syllabus of the students of agriculture in order to sensitize the younger generation about the efficacy of these proverbs in the field of farming.
Ericulture, a major component of sericulture has been a traditional practice of the poor tribal villagers of Assam since times immemorial. It has been a secondary occupation of the womenfolk during their leisure time which adds to their family income to some extent. Moreover, their by-product pupae which is full of protein is a favourite delicacy of the tribals. Though the occupation requires very small amount of investment, the rearers are not utilising it to their full capacity. It is because of the fact that the rearers are highly dependent on wildly grown feed leaves of castor, the primary feed leaf of eri worm. It is observed that even if the rearers cultivate castor, it will undoubtedly raise their costs of production. However, it will certainly help them to raise their level of income and thus their profit even at the present technological setup. This paper tries to find out the underutilised capacity of ericulture and suggests means to develop this traditional primary occupation of Assam.
Since formal credit institutions rarely lend to the poor, special institutional anungements become necessary to extend credit to those who have no collateral to offer. Micro finance (MF), by providing small loans and savings facilities to those who have been excluded from commercial financial services, has been promoted as a key strategy for reducing poverty in all its forms by agencies all over the world, particularly in the developing countries. Micro credit (MC) has been defined as “programmes that can provide credit for self- employment and other financial and business services (including savings, technical assistance, training, networking, and peer support) to very poor persons” (Micro Credit Summit 1997). The task force on supportive policy and regulatory framework for micro finance (NABARD 1999) defined micro finance as “provision of thrift, credit, and other financial services, and products of very small amounts to raise the income levels of clients, and improve their living standards.” While micro credit loans are generally advanced for self-employment projects, they are also sometimes advanced for consumption, repayment of earlier debts, and other social needs as well. It is necessary for micro credit institutions to get the borrowers to make the transition from consumption loans to production loans or loans for income bearing projects. As per the definition of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), micro finance is an economic development approach that involves providing financial services through institutions to low income clients.
The present paper focuses on the extent of human rights approach in the implementation process of various Poverty Alleviation Programmes (PAPs) in Tamil Nadu. The study was carried out on a sample of 900 beneficiaries of various PAPs selected from three different districts of Tamil Nadu. The adoption of human rights approach was measured based on a set of human rights indicators developed for each of the PAPs. The opinion of women beneficiaries on each of the indicators was placed on a three-point scale ranging from 0 to 2. A score of 2 was given for the presence of an indicator mostly, 1 for sometimes and 0 for never. The results of the study indicate that the level of adoption of human rights approach was highest at 93 per cent in Public Distribution System (PDS) followed by Swarnajayanthi Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) (66 per cent), Indira Awass Yojana (IAY) (65 per cent) and Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY) (37 per cent). The PDS has performed well with higher level of adoption of human rights approach whereas the SGSY and IAY have succeeded to a considerable extent and SGRY has performed badly with the very low level of adoption of human rights approach. The findings strongly suggest the need for the adoption of human rights approach for the success of the anti-poverty programmes. * Reader, Department. of Applied Research, Gandhigram Rural University, Gandhigram-624 302, Tamil Nadu. Introduction In the year 2000, representatives of 189 nations including 147 Heads of State and government gathered at the United Nations for a historic Millennium Summit. The Summit adopted an ambitious set of goals, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Achieving them by the target date of 2015 will transform the lives of the world’s people, including reducing by half of the number of people living in extreme poverty (UNFPA, 2003). India is on a fast track to economic growth with an annual growth rate of 8 per cent. Though growth has been seen viable, the trickle down theory of Simon Kuznet (1969) has not done any magic. When Mahbub Ul Haq (1976) wrote his ‘Poverty Curtain’, he advised the nations to take care of Gross National Product (GNP), so that it will take care of everything. However, this could not happen as around 300 million people in the world are living on less than a dollar a day. Inequalities between rural and urban areas are widening and the regional imbalances are deepening. The gap between men and women are also widening and one has to fear whether a big social divide is taking place. Although recent positive economic developments have helped the Indian middleclass a lot, India still suffers from substantial poverty. The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) estimated that 22.15 per cent of the population was living below the poverty line in 2004-2005, down from 51.3 per cent in 1977-1978 to 25 per cent in 2002 in India. As of 2006, India’s Human Development Index is 0.611, higher than that of nearby countries like Bangladesh (0.530) and Pakistan (0.539), but lower than Vietnam (0.709) and China (0.768) (United Nations, 2006).
The polity of our country has realised the significance of the development of weaker sections specially the scheduled castes since Independence. Consequently, planned efforts have been made for their upliftment by the government. This paper has examined the progress made with regard to their social (health, housing, workforce participation, availability of basic amenities and wage employment under income generation schemes), educational and occupational status. Based on secondary data, it has been found that no doubt, a positive change on various socio-economic parameters has been recorded but, that change has touched merely less than half of their population. Further, the gap between the mainstream and scheduled caste population still persists significantly in our traditional society. Therefore, there is an urgent need to reorient and focus the strategy in order to support the lesser privileged by providing qualitative education and infusing among them the individualistic and moralistic values of self-denial, temperance, forethought, thrift, sobriety and self-reliance essential to bring these downtrodden into the national mainstream. * Reader, Department of Social Work, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (Haryana). Scheduled castes are those castes/races, which have been or may in future be specified in a list in accordance with Article 341 of our Constitution. The people of these castes are considered outcastes and categorised as untouchables. They remain at the bottom of social hierarchy and have been socially deprived, discriminated and exploited by the upper caste Hindus since time immemorial. This is the result of our rigid caste system which divides the Indian society into upper castes and lower castes on the basis of birth. Mythologically, the people of these castes are born impure, culturally they suffer from social disabilities and occupationally they are linked with impure occupation and above all they are exclusively dependent for their survival on the high castes of the respective villages who have tradition bound attitudes, reflected in the nomenclature, castes etc. (Vidyarthi and Mishra 1977). The overall lower socio-economic position of the scheduled castes, made the framers of the Constitution, to realise that special attention is urgently required for their development. As a result, some specific provisions have been incorporated in the Constitution to provide social justice to the members of these castes through the policy of protective discrimination. The basic purpose of incorporating these developmental provisions was to change the traditional social structure of our society, which is based upon socio-economic and political inequalities. These special provisions have played an important role in improving the socio-economic conditions and achieving a respectful position to the members of the scheduled caste communities in the society. Economic growth with social justice has been the major objective of planning process and rural development programmes in India. The government would not only take into account economic goals, but also consider social aspects like providing access to deprived section to participate in the development process. Article
