Daily Times

Tharparkar, a district with population of around 1.65 million, has always been in the news for fallaciousreasons, owing to massive misleading propaganda campaigns by the competitors. The masses are constantly being fed with incorrect information where Thar is concerned.

Once an overlooked region of Sindh, Tharparkar is now a hub of development. However, inaccurate dissemination of facts focused on food insecurity, drought hunger, malnutrition, inefficient and nonfunctional hospitals and schools is proving to be a hindrance. Any news concerning Thar is mostly biased and the numbers are highly exaggerated.

During its two tenures, PPP in Sindh has specifically focused on improving the conditions of the previously neglected area of Sindh and its poverty stricken population. The government has spent around $1 billion already and all the development blueprints are linked to health, infrastructure, education and water supply. This, however, was not achieved in a day. It was the sheer hard work of the Government of Sindh for almost eleven years and the vision of the Chairman that ensured improved livelihood of the people of Thar. Avery important question then arises – Why is Thar being attacked despite the unprecedented development activity in various sectors?

Baseless allegations by the opponents have time and again been refuted by the work done in Thar by the Sindh Government. It is the other provinces that are lagging behind and have failed to introduce timely reforms on health, education, development and women empowerment

A very successful model is being used in Thar for the coal project where the government is the major shareholder. Under this, the government has not only developed the resources but local access to these very resources has been made possible. They have alsosuccessfully created local ownership of these resources to ensure that locals are employed and are also developingextra set of skills. The profit form this venture is then invested back in area for development i.e. Tharparkar. This very successful model can be used in various areas of Balochistan as it has done wonders for Sindh.

Efficient results due to improved health services can now be seen as infant mortality rate has come down significantly. The hospitals in Thar are well equipped and have competent staff. All Tehsil dispensaries and hospitals have also been upgraded to ensure better access to health facilities for the local population. Bannu, in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on the other hand had the highest neonatal deaths – 1689 deaths which can be further broken down into 118 deaths per 1000 live births at various health facilities owned by the provincial government. Situation in Punjab is equally bad if not worse .The shocking stats should act a wakeup call for the other provinces. Instead of engaging in propaganda warfare, they should focus on better policy development for important issues like these.

Sindh Government has ensured that the people of Thar get free access to water via 502 RO plants which provides 12.7 millions gallons of fresh and purified water every day under the Benazir Bhutto Drinking Water Hub Scheme. 384 village level solarized RO plants are also included in this.Two of these plants are mega RO plants established in both Mithi (2 million gallons per day capacity) and Islamkot (1.5million gallons per day capacity). Also, 368 solarized RO plants are under construction and will become operational within the coming months under the same scheme.

Women of Thar have been setting follow worthy examples for women of other provinces. Cultural barriers are being broken in Thar – from engineers to truck drivers, they are proudly doing it all. Inclusive development is what PPP promised and it is now being delivered. They have finally been empowered to choose for themselves.PPP has developed Thar for the world to see as opposed to using photoshopped images to show development in rural areas. Baseless allegations by the opponents have time and again been refuted by the work done in Thar by the Sindh Government. It is the other provinces that are lagging behind and have failed to introduce timely reforms on health, education, development and women empowerment. So who should be questioned then for inefficiency? Them or us?

The author is a human rights defender and a political activist

Published in Daily Times, March 8^th 2019.