CAN a family survive with dignity on the minimum wage of an unskilled worker, asked the Supreme Court on Monday in the context of an application regarding the price of wheat flour.

It is high time, indeed, that the question was asked. Pakistan’s most open secret is also its most shameful: vast swathes of the population, whether rural or urban, live in near or abject poverty; rising prices of everyday essentials — from food to schooling to electricity and fuel — mean that more and more families continue to quietly slip under the poverty line; in a country that refers to itself as an agriculture-based economy, people struggle with hunger and malnutrition as their constant companions.

There is no doubt about this. Study after study, survey after survey, has shown that every year, the ranks of the poor keep swelling in Pakistan, and that even amongst the relatively better-off sections of society living standards are plummeting.

Dignity is the key word here. The court identified the average family as comprised of two adults and two children, but family sizes are generally much larger than that in Pakistan.

The minimum wage is officially set at Rs10,000 per month, as announced by the finance minister last June; the standard that is actually in existence is even lower, ranging between Rs7,000 and Rs9,000, as noted by the court.

When these figures are put in the context of a price tag that comes with all the other ‘benefits’ — many would call them compulsions — of being Pakistani, where is there room for people to lead lives with even basic dignity or honour, let alone dream of a better future for their children?

The state fails its most populous sections of society every day, and this can be traced to two broad reasons.

First, the more fortunate sections of society, including the political and policymaking elites, display an utter lack of concern and compassion for the majority of the population. Were this not the case, public outrage at the levels of poverty would have forced change already — change that did not limit itself to piecemeal interventions to better the lot of some, but that was sustained and aimed at reducing general poverty.

Second, the state seems unable to bestir itself and implement even those rules and laws that have been formulated. Concerning the minimum wage, there are clear arguments that it must be raised.

But, as some will argue, what is the point, given that the state does so little to ensure that even existing standards are followed? Then, there are armies of workers who aren’t protected by the minimum wage standard at all, and haven’t even heard of it, for example daily-wage and domestic workers. Between the ailing unions and an unconcerned state, millions of Pakistanis are left in an unenviable situation.