Rs500m allocated for rural growth centres

The Sindh government has allocated Rs500 million for Thatta, Sujawal, Badin and Tharparkar for the establishment of rural hubs as a potential pilot project.

A consultation workshop was held by the provincial administration in this regard. The purpose of the workshop was to engage and continue dialogue with key stakeholders as part of the implementation of the poverty reduction strategy of the Government of Sindh.

The key agenda of the workshop covered input from the core district administration, the rural support programmes and the community institutions on the establishment of a pilot rural growth centre in District Sujawal.

The rural growth centre is a point within a cluster of villages that provides goods and services to its own population as well as the surrounding areas. This approach leads to low unit cost and high economies of scale.

The poverty reduction strategy, with specific focus on community-driven local development (CDLD) policy, has been developed as a result of continuous engagement, dialogue and discussion between various stakeholders identified during the inception stage.

The Sindh cabinet formally approved and adopted the poverty reduction strategy on November 16 last year and agreed on a proposed budget of Rs72.5 billion for its implementation over an initial five-year period.

The poverty reduction strategy illustrates a three-dimensional approach to reduce poverty at both rural and urban level and includes a policy for CDLD. The first strategy includes continuation of the Peoples Poverty Reduction Programme to carry out poverty reduction interventions of financial and other support and capacity-building at grassroots community level based on social mobilisation as well as extending the CDLD approach via selected line departments.

The second approach envisages reducing urban poverty by adding urban economic clusters and creating linkages between rural and urban poverty reduction initiatives. The third strategy involves a model of rural growth centres to function as service hubs to provide improved facilities and services to clusters of geographically connected and demographically viable villages.

Four target districts — Thatta, Sujawal, Badin and Tharparkar — have been selected by the Sindh government. They have also been approved for the identification and establishment of rural hubs as a potential pilot project with an initial allocation of Rs500 million.

The pioneering initiative in rural development and poverty reduction is the flagship programme of the provincial administration to tackle poverty at household level and it has received international recognition.

The European Union, through the technical assistance approach of eradicating poverty, has developed mutual trust and understanding to work together by supplementing the efforts of the government through its SUCCESS (Sindh Union Council & Community Economic Strengthening Support) programme in the province.