Daily Times

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) member of provincial assembly (MPA) Surendar Valasai submitted a resolution demanding the establishment of a public university in the drought-struck region of Thar.

PPP lawmaker Surendar Valasai submitted a resolution to the speaker of Sindh Assembly on Wednesday. In this resolution, Valasai demanded that the Sindh government establish ‘Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University of Thar’.

“This House recommends the Government of Sindh to take steps for the establishment of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto University of Thar to cater to the needs of higher education in the region,” read the resolution. “There should be a special emphasis on subjects which may contribute to future requirement in local as well as national development and economic activities,” it states.

Scattered over 22,000 square kilometres (km) in the south eastern part of Sindh, along Indian border, Thar is one of the most impoverished regions in the country. The desert region lags behind in terms of both human development and infrastructure. Thar is currently facing another drought.

Thar Desert spans over Tharparkar district, one of the four districts that come under Mirpurkhas division. Other districts in the division include Mirpurkhas, Umerkot and Sanghar. Despite having a total population of 5.5 million (mn), the Mirpurkhas division does not have a single public sector university to cater to the higher education needs of its residents.

People of Thar have been demanding the establishment of a public sector university in the region since a long time.

“Universities play an important role in any region and public sector university in any region will help locals access higher education. Higher education, in turn, helps locals enhance their skill set and gain economic and financial stability,” Valasai told Daily Times.

The PPP parliamentarian said that Thar Desert had several natural resources such as coal reserves, where the Sindh government had established the Thar Coal power plant but the locals were not educated. “If courses pertaining to different aspects of coal based power production are taught in Thar University, the residents can partake actively in local economy and even get jobs,” he explained.

“If the locals are educated and economically stable, they can cope with droughts. This means that the government can cut down its spending on relief activities during droughts,” said Valasai.

Published in Daily Times, August 30^th 2018.