Ever since Prime Minister Imran Khan endorsed the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams fund setup by Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar and appealed to the nation for donations, resident and overseas Pakistanis have responded overwhelmingly to the national cause, raising the amount to nearly Rs4.2 billion.
With donations continuing to pour in, an Indian media outlet on Saturday published a report highlighting the complications due to which the campaign might “never succeed”.
Following is the list of what, according to the media outlet, is “wrong with PM Imran’s maths”.
HEADCOUNT PROBLEM:
PM Imran is banking on the country’s population of 200 million and its expat population of 7.6 million; though 24.3% of its domestic population lives below the poverty line of $1.25 a day.
MULTIPLICATION PROBLEM:
PM Imran wants each of his expat Pakistanis to contribute $1,000 each, which would raise just $7.6 billion, or just a little more than half the amount needed. Which means that the balance amount of $6.4 billion is to be raised from 15.17 crore people, who will need to contribute $42 each, while their per capita income is $1,641.
TRICKLE OF MONEY:
The premier is banking on the expat remittances, which in the previous fiscal year, were $20 billion, apart from the $8 million donated by the army and $9,740 donated by the national football team. Not to mention the Pakistani Rs2.3 million that the government earned after auctioning 8 buffaloes of the Prime Minister House.
If successful, the campaign would be the largest crowdfunding effort in history while breaking the current Kickstarter record 700 times over, the report states further.
