Abstract:
Social sector development in Pakistan has been the focus of researchers over past decades but
coverage of these services still remains limited. Although, considerable amount of resources
have been allocated for social service delivery, people at large have suffered from existing
inequalities in delivery of these services. Utilizing the MICS 2007-083 dataset, we look at the
prevailing inequalities in access to education, health, physical infrastructure and social safety
nets across the districts of Punjab. We highlight the weaknesses of public institutions in
providing social services and acknowledge the contribution of the private sector in improving
access to these services. The paper emphasizes the need for an adequate allocation of
resources from the provincial government to the districts in order to remove the growing
inequalities within districts and between districts. An effective approach for funds
disbursement from the provinces to the districts should be based upon the current level of
access to social services. This paper attempts to establish a rationalized methodology for
funds distribution at the district level, so that a larger population has access to basic services.
The outcome of declining inequality in social service delivery will help the lot of lagging
districts, and may limit inter-district migration to some extent.
