Impact Of China Pakistan Economic Corridor On Social Welfare Policy In Pakistan

CPEC is a flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative.In Pakistani media CPEC is called as the "Game Changer".Due to the enormous investment of this project,it will have a deep impact on Pakistan's economy.After completion of CPEC,Pakistan will share in regional economics and international connectivity.This study highlights three major aspects of CPEC.Firstly,forecasting the impact of CPEC projects on social welfare till 2030 is assessed.For investigating social welfare three dimensions are selected as education,health and housing.Exploratory factor analysis is used to make factor index of 115 districts from all four provinces of Pakistan.Furthermore,forecasting the impact of long term projects till 2030 is also made.Forecasting methodology is based on mean model.The results show significant growth especially in those districts which come under three routes of CPEC.It is expected that up till 2030 there will be 5.12 percent growth in social welfare in Pakistan.According to the province,Baluchistan has the highest level of growth in social welfare as 6.3 percent.After that Sindh has 6.2 percent,KPK has 4.9 percent and Punjab has 3.4 percent.Secondly strategic rationales behind CPEC are assessed.For this purpose a research question is made as,does China's involvement in CPEC is more aligned with realist or liberal lens?After extensive review of scholarly literature,media sources and official statements of Chinese and Pakistani government it is assessed that China's motivation for CPEC belongs to liberal school of thought.The sole purpose of China'investment is economic prosperity and geographical connectivity.Thirdly,external perspectives of CPEC are also discussed.Perception of India,America,Iran and Afghanistan towards CPEC is explained in detail.Fourthly,the situation in Pakistan before CPEC is discussed in detail.One district namely Swat from the province of KPK is selected to analyze community perception of ecological disturbances cause during counter-insurgency operations.This situation prevails in some of the northern districts of Pakistan before CPEC.After investigating the eminent dimensions of CPEC,the impact on local community quality of life is measured.A moderating role of Economic Benefit is maintained.Results showed that locals possess positive attitude towards the development of CPEC projects.Finally the aspects of CPEC which are highlighted in this study will be beneficial for future researchers.It will also help the public policy makers to design policies according to the welfare situation in Pakistan.This study is important in analyzing impact of social welfare policy indicators on CPEC.This huge project is attracting attention of millions of people.With the help of forecasting method,policy makers can assess the situation of economy before hand.This will also help in managing the facilities for citizens across the country.