Murad okays Rs4bn poverty reduction plan for six districts

Implementing the manifesto of the Pakistan Peoples Party, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has approved the Rs4 billion People’s Poverty Reduction Programme (PPRP) in six districts of Sindh.

CM Shah took the decision on Friday while presiding over a meeting at the CM House. Planning and Development Board Chairman Mohammad Waseem, Principal Secretary to the CM Sajid Jamal Abro, Sindh Rural Support Organisation (SRSO) Chairman Shoaib Sultan Khan, SRSO CEO Dittal Kalhoro and other officers attended the meeting.

Speaking about a similar programme, the chief minister said that the Union Council Based Poverty Reduction Programme (UCBPRP) of Rs3.36 billion with the specific objectives to reduce poverty, improve the quality of life of the poor and marginalised communities through social mobilisation, capacity development, asset creation and income generation is already underway in Sindh.

Shah added that with the start of the Rs4 billion PPRP in six districts, the provincial government’s intervention for poverty reduction would spread over to 16 districts with an investment of Rs14.2 billion. “This would definitely develop a good impact in the rural areas,” he said.

While approving the project, the CM said that the programme was being launched in 288 union councils of six districts including Ghotki, Sukkur, Naushehro Feroze, Benazirabad and in rural union councils of Karachi and Hyderabad.

Mobilising communities

According to the CM, the union council based programme was a symbol of the performance of the provincial government in terms of service delivery to the poorest rural population through social mobilisation to empower the local communities by socially and economically enabling them to improve their livelihood and increase their earnings through Income Generating Grants (IGG) and Community Fund as were being given as interest-free loans. He termed the UCBPRP a unique first initiative as it focused on women empowerment and livelihood of the poorest households, identified through a scientific survey.

He said that the programme was the first-ever major project of the provincial government that was being implemented through community participation, and it was a highly-intensive development package in its coverage and is concentrated at the union council level.

A hallmark of the programme is development through social mobilisation which provides a great opportunity to the rural skilled women to produce and showcase their products by accessing the larger market in mega cities like Karachi, Shah said.

He added that it was the first time that the women of impoverished rural areas had an opportunity to present and sell their products themselves without involving the middlemen. “This gives them the confidence in their ability and direct exposure to the market as well as enables them to become economically better off and independent,” he said.

The CM added that the programme not only focuses on social sector improvement by directly addressing the indicators of health, poverty, environment, social security, shelter, employment and basic livelihood but also helps in achieving the objective and targets of the universally accepted Sustainable Development Goals – of which Pakistan is a signatory.

He further said that the programme was initially launched in two districts – Shikarpur and Khandhkot area of Kashmore district – on pilot basis in 2009 for 30 months. It achieved the desired objectives of organising the households in community and village organisations by providing rural communities a common platform to discuss and resolve socio-economic issues collectively.

Realising the importance of mobilising communities for collective actions, to pool their resources for economies of scale and to build up group solidarity for sustained reduction in poverty, the programme was further extended to two more districts, Jacobabad and Tharparkar in 2010 with an allocation of Rs2 billion.

Briefing the meeting, P&D Chairman Mohammad Waseem said the UCBPRP achieved great success in the four districts of Shikarpur, Kashmore, Jacobabad and Tharparkar. This included universal coverage of 175 union councils, organisations of 343,084 households at community and village level, giving of income generation grants and interest-free loans to 10,043 and 112,406 households respectively.

The chairman said that under the programme, 9,072 low-cost housing units have been provided to shelter-less families, 1,124 households have been given water supply schemes, 34,211 persons have been provided vocational training, 114,328 households have been provided micro-health insurance plans, 195 schools have been made functional and 43 small villages have been rehabilitated.

Waseem said that considering the success of the programme, the CM then further expanded the programme to six more districts, Umerkot, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Khairpur, Badin and Thatta for Rs4.9 billion in 2017. This scheme is being implemented through the SRSO led by Shoaib Sultan Khan.

The European Union has also launched a similar programme titled the Sindh Union Council and Community Economic Strengthening Support (SUCCESS) targeting the reduction of poverty and enhancement of livelihoods in eight more districts by investing Rs8 billion.