Senate body criticises Sindh government for neglecting Thar

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Ccommittee on Human Rights on Wednesday grilled the Sindh government for allegedly turning a blind eye to the suffering of people of the poverty-stricken Thar.

To the surprise of the committee members, the  provincial government representatives blamed the trend of early marriages for deaths of both women and children. Private contractors were also blamed for irregularities in distribution of relief goods to the Thar population. 

The meeting deliberated upon the arrest of the killers of the guard of the Committee Chairperson Senator Nasreen Jalil of the MQM and budget allocation of the Ministry of Human Rights and its spending.

Some senators came hard on the bureaucracy for allegedly depriving the deserving people from benefiting from relief aid and other facilities. They lamented that there was not a single ambulance for population of Islamkot and Mitthi.      

The senators alleged that both the government of Sindh as well as the federal government had failed to fulfill their obligations towards the people of Thar. The ruling PML-N Senator, Nisar Muhammad, proposed that the prime minister should immediately pay a visit to the area and himself assess the situation there.

The committee was informed by the representatives of the provincial government that some 300 doctors would be appointed in the district. They added wheat worth Rs4 billion and 100 million was supplied to 1.3 million people of the district in addition to allocation of Rs5 billion for the water supply schemes.

Independent Senator Mohsin Leghari, who chaired the meeting, and is himself from the backward southern Punjab, questioned that where did these water supply schemes exist.He pointed out 58 percent population was poor while 40 percent children’s weight was less than normal kids and charged no measures had been taken on this count.

Senator Leghari noted that people of the district faced acute health issues, but no fresh recruitment of doctors was being made to handle the worrisome situation. He suggested establishment of mobile medical units to deal with the challenge.

 In his comments, Senator Nisar contended that it was a fundamental obligation of the State to ensure provision of all basic facilities to its citizens without discrimination, whatsoever.“It is regrettable that mega projects worth billions of rupees are being initiated, but children in Thar are dying. The prime minister must immediately rush to the crisis-hit areas while I have no words to comment on indifference of the Sindh government,” he maintained. He described the briefing given by the provincial government’s representatives on the matter unsatisfactory and said while China, Unicef and some other relief agencies had provided relief to the district, the State has failed to fulfill its responsibility.

 The PML-N senator proposed that a sub-committee should be formed, which might pay a visit to the district to have first-hand information of the state of affairs there. Awami National Party’s Senator Sitara Ayaz deplored the fact that there was no ambulance available for the affected children of Thar and medicines for ailing women. She alleged neither the federal government nor Sindh was serious in addressing this purely humanitarian issue.

Mir Kabeer of the National Party called for hurling curses at those who had looted the aid given for saving lives of Thar children.Senator Mufti Ibrar of JUI-F said that relief and aid must be given to the people of Thar as per the teachings of Islam without any delay.

The Sindh government officials told the committee that 700 water plants had been established in the district at the cost of Rs5 billion and that Rs4 billion were provided for health, food, transport and other facilities. They claimed the provincial government provided aid as per the demand made by the authorities concerned.