Sindh govt to distribute ration bags among 50,000 Thari families

To overcome the persisting drought conditions in Thar, the Sindh government has decided to distribute ration bags containing high-energy edible items among 50,000 Thari families every month.

A press statement issued on Thursday quoted Sindh Information and Law Adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab as saying that the distribution of ration bags would be carried out initially for a period of three months as a pilot project, likely beginning from Monday.

According to Wahab, 50,000 needy families of Thar had been duly identified after getting assistance from the relevant agencies like the National Database & Registration Authority in order to enrol them in the ration distribution programme.

The pilot project has been initiated to overcome nutritional deficiencies among the household women and children of Thar, he said, adding that every ration bag would contain edible items having total value of Rs4,500.

The Sindh government would incur Rs220 million on the distribution of ration bags among the Thari families, he said. The adviser to the CM further said that the ration distribution would be in addition to the financial support being provided under the Benazir Income Support Programme to Thari people and the distribution of 50 kilogramme of wheat among the drought-hit families there. The Sindh government has been fully utilising its resources to alleviate the situation of drought in Thar and reverse the alarming phenomenon of child deaths, Wahab said.