The aim of this research is to analyze the historical process of continuity and change that led to the socio-economic transformation associated with irrigation sector development in nineteenth-century Multan, thus supplying a missing piece in South Asian Regional economic history and it became unplanned revolution and modernization as happened with colonial Multan. The introduction of the perennial canal system and the commercialization of agricultural crops provided a real opportunity for the economic development of this region. What were the socio-cultural impacts of regional economic policies, and how it penetrates as processes of continuity and change? This research derives its frame of reference by mixing historical, qualitative and quantitative methods of research. The selected data is analyzed from a dialectical rationale approach to critical discourse. This research is based on original, unpublished official reports from British Indian Library London, Punjab Civil Secretariat Lahore.

This study analyzed the association between household employment and household poverty using logit regression on survey data of Multan District. It is found that qualification of household head, gender of household head, household employment rate, number of males employed in formal sector, number of females employed in informal sector, females permitted to paid work outside home, female’s autonomy to utilize household resources, possession of agricultural land, residence, possession of livestock and government health facility in household’s vicinity have significantly negative impact on probability of household’s poverty. Household size and number of children (≤ 5 years) are positively associated with household poverty. It is suggested that empowering women and creating productive employment opportunities in both formal and informal sectors may help to reduce poverty..