Daily Times

When I asked Roopa a 39 year old widow, mother of three children and a client of a microfinance institute, who runs a confectionary shop in Mithi, “Why do you often take loan from microfinance banks/institutions?”  She said “If a woman is a widow, her two sons are too young to go outside and earn something; she has to make arrangements for the marriage of her only daughter then what should that woman do?” After the break of a few seconds she continued “Would that be appropriate if the same woman goes outside and starts begging from people for her children’s survival or takes an encouraging step by taking a loan from MFBs and initiate a small home based business so that she independently can run the system of her household and fulfills her children’s little and inexpensive dreams?” Roopa’s success story is actually an inspiring ray of hope for the deprived women population of the country who think that a lone woman can’t do anything but what hurdles she has been facing during that the long span of making her children’s dream come true without their father is really a tragic tale. Roopa’s story is too long to describe here so deconstruct the real causes of suicides in Thar.

Like Roopa, 48 year old Vidya wife of Doongro Mal also has her own tailoring business in Mithi city. She has been a client of Thardeep Microfinance Foundation, a leading micro financing institution in Thar since 2005. Vidya’s husband works as clerk in Taluka Administration but amazingly she earns more than her husband monthly. “I wanted to do something to contribute to the household income. When I suggested this to my husband he initially refused, reminding me that Rajput women don’t work. It was a daunting challenge for me to convince my husband, but I didn’t step back. It took three years, but finally I convinced my husband to permit me to work.” Vidya says.

For some years, the suicide rate in Thar and particularly of the women there, has reached a critical point. An unofficial report estimates that since January 2018 till to date, 43 people have committed suicide in Thar. No doubt it’s sink or swim time for Tharis, but no one wants to pay heed to the roars of the people. Krishan Sharma, a social activist from Mithi says “I alone have looked into the four suicide cases in Thar thoroughly and concluded that microfinance wasn’t the real cause behind those suicides.” Bharumal Amrani, a writer from Chelhar, Thar opinions stated “Change in social behaviors of people is the real reason behind suicides in Thar. Though people commit suicide all over Sindh but Thar is in spotlight due to drought and poverty that is why if a normal death occurs in Thar, I don’t know why a specific group links it to fake leads like microfinance.”

There are two types of group of people in Thar who oppose each other’s views when it comes to spell out the real causes of suicides in Thar. One group is of the opinion that micro financing is deleterious for the people of Thar because they don’t have resources to pay back the loan to the concerned banks. The other group thinks that micro financing is the only way-out to cope with the financial crises of the poorest people of this region.

One thing is confirmed that when the government disowns its people, then the people must try to explore the next available avenue/option. This happens naturally because people have to focus on the survival of their families and themselves. In Thar, people have been doing so and resultantly they are dependent on either Microfinance Banks/Institutions or Non Governmental Organizations.

Thar has been a hub of hundreds of Non Governmental Agencies since early 90s and the reason behind is not difficult to hit upon. Unavailability of basic necessities of existence, extreme poverty and regular occurrence of droughts invite such NGOs to execute projects in Thar. Here arise some serious questions i.e. if such non governmental welfare agencies have been working in Thar for so long then where is the developed Thar? Where are the people whom such NGOs have made aware regarding their rights? Where is the safe drinking water facility? Where are the well equipped health units? Where are the quality education centers? Why do newborns and pregnant mothers still so often die? Moreover, it’s also a deplorable truth that today many villagers of the remote villages of Thar haven’t even seen Mithi city, the district headquarter of Thar.

The development model such organizations have been showing in papers for years does not have an on ground impact. There is only poverty, poverty and poverty everywhere in the desert. This phenomenon has given birth to several social diseases which have become the prime cause of people’s heartbreaks.

Recently the local media reported that a young lady named Dhani Kolhi committed suicide in the village Dhandra near Nagarparkar. The people of her village found her dead body hanging in her house. Everyone started calling Dhani’s death, a suicide due to the pressure of repaying the loan of a bank but when her dead body was being washed before burial, her mother saw the marks of torture on her body. Hence it was disclosed that her husband namely Alji Kolhi had tortured her, killed her and then hanged her dead body from the roof to misguide police and relatives.

For some years, the suicide rate in Thar and particularly of the women there, has reached a critical point. An unofficial report estimates that since January 2018 till to date, 43 people have committed suicide in Thar

Likewise, every incident of suicide in Thar has many other veiled causes but instead of focusing on such awful grounds the opportunists without delay connect such deaths to micro financing.

Besides such NGOs there exist Microfinance Banks/Institutes which provide small scale loans to the people in Thar. Though this is also a business but it helps to provide people at least an opportunity to enhance and safeguard their resources. Whoever commits suicide in Thar doesn’t mean that he or she had to repay an installment or a loan to any bank/institute and he or she couldn’t arrange that money on time so they commited suicide.

I also met with Mukesh who runs a cold drink shop in Nagarparkar. As electricity has been an issue of great concern for everyone in Thar but when it badly affects one, especially a small business then what should he do? Mukesh took a loan from Thardeep Microfinance Foundation and procured a solar system for his small cold drink shop. Mukesh thinks that if he wouldn’t have taken the loan, he might have committed suicide. “I am the only caretaker of my entire family which comprises of my mother, my father, wife and three children. Some years ago I sold a gold ring and purchased a Rickshaw but one day it was damaged in an accident. Then I decided to start a small business hence I took a loan from Thardeep Microfinance Foundation. Now my family has a luxurious life as compared to hundreds of families dwelling in Nagarparkar.”

In a drought stricken region like Thar finding prosperity is difficult but the way microfinance banks/institutes have been providing loans to the poor should be appreciated.

I have seen a Thar which is so different from the deprived depiction being presented by the so called ‘opportunists’ who dont want to see people prosper because if the Tharis become self-sufficient then how will such people get long term projects and international funding agencies for the development of Thar’s poor people.

The writer is a freelance columnist and he can be reached at abbaskhaskheli110@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, December 29^th 2018.