Teach them to fish

It has been 47 years since the late Z A Bhutto introduced land reforms in the country and distributed land to landless farmers across the country to improve their living conditions. Unfortunately, decades after that great step, people in Sindh – where the party of late Bhutto is in power – are facing the poverty, famine, hunger, and disease. All politicians vow to eradicate poverty if they get power, but it just keeps getting worst by the day. It seems that some of the steps to tackle poverty by government and NGOs are adding to it. Giving out money to reduce poverty leads to dependence of people on aid and charity. The recipients then prefer to live on aid. The government need to carry out a survey of aid recipients to decide how many have been pulled out of the clutches of poverty through such programmes. I believe that a better way would be to initiate programmes that help the poor to learn skills and begin sustainable work or business rather than relying on cash aid perpetually.

Raja Shafaatullah (Islamabad)