ISLAMABAD: Over 16 percent households in Pakistan experience “moderate or severe” food insecurity, Pakistan’s Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) survey 2019-20 said in a report published this month and reported by local media on Thursday.
This is the seventh report of the survey, based on data from 195,000 households collected between October 2019 to March 2020.
One section of the survey evaluated “how many households suffer due to food insecurity by evaluating in terms of money, fill of nutrition food, hunger in last 12 months.”
The survey report said Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan witnessed the highest level of moderate or severe food insecurity at 29.84 percent, Sindh at 18.45 percent, Punjab at 15.16 percent and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 12.75 percent.
District-wise data in the survey showed the highest level of moderate or severe food insecurity was recorded at 48.8 percent in Barkhan in Balochistan and the lowest at 4.59 percent in Gwadar, Balochistan. In Sindh, the highest level was recorded at 34.04 percent in Kashmore and the lowest at 7.66 percent in Khairpur.
In Punjab, the highest level of moderate or severe food insecurity was in Kasur at 28.81 percent and the lowest at 4.18 percent in Okara. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the highest level was in Tank at 32.43 percent and the lowest at 3.94 percent in Shangla.
The survey reveals that across Pakistan, the percentage of children aged 10 years and older who had ever attended school was 60 percent in 2019-20, compared to 62 percent in 2014-15. Islamabad remained at the top of the list at 85 percent.
“While great strides have been made in improving literacy and participation rates, the education system remains largely elitist with access to the best educational opportunities available only to the more affluent or well-connected,” the report read.
Over 16 percent Pakistani households suffer moderate to severe food insecurity — survey
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Over 16 percent Pakistani households suffer moderate to severe food insecurity — survey
- Pakistan’s Social and Living Standards Measurement survey says southwetsern Balochistan witnessed highest level of food insecurity at 29.84 percent
- Percentage of children aged 10 years and older who had ever attended school was 60 percent in 2019-20 compared to 62 percent in 2014-15
Security forces kill four militants in Pakistan’s volatile southwest, military says
- Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency
- The Balochistan government has recently established a threat assessment center to strengthen early warning, prevent ‘terrorism’ incidents
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces gunned down four militants in an intelligence-based operation in the southwestern Balochistan province, the military said on Tuesday.
The operation was conducted in Balochistan’s Kalat district on reports about the presence of militants, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
The “Indian-sponsored militants” were killed in an exchange of fire during the operation, while weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the deceased, who remained actively involved in numerous militant activities.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored terrorist found in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement.
There was no immediate response from New Delhi to the statement.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency involving Baloch separatist groups, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).
Pakistan accuses India of supporting these separatist militant groups and describes them as “Fitna Al-Hindustan.” New Delhi denies the allegation.
The government in Balochistan has also established a state-of-the-art threat assessment center to strengthen early warning and prevention against “terrorism” incidents, a senior official said this week.
“Information that was once scattered is now shared and acted upon in time, allowing the state to move from reacting after incidents to preventing them before they occur,” Balochistan Additional Chief Secretary Hamza Shafqaat wrote on X.
The development follows a steep rise in militancy-related deaths in Pakistan in 2025. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) last month, combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387.
These included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the think tank said.
