KARACHI, Oct 14: Speakers at a meeting here on Thursday called on all NGOs, CBOs and other civil society organizations to join hands with the government so that it could provide relief effectively to the victims of a disaster.

The meeting was organized by an NGO, Actionaid, to discuss Government's Relief Policy on Disaster and Drought. Sindh Revenue and Relief Minister Imtiaz Ahmad Shaikh, speaking on the occasion declared that the Sindh Natural Calamities (Prevention and Relief) Act-1958 had become outdated and needed to be updated.

He invited NGOs, CBOs and other civil society organizations to come out with their recommendations that could be incorporated in the policy.

He advised them to form a committee and refer it to the government which would eventually notify the same. The committee, he added, would prepare its recommendations and the government would consider them while reviewing and updating its relief policy.

He stressed that disaster relief plans be chalked out both at provincial and district levels. The minister said that though it was primarily the responsibility of the government to provide relief to calamity-hit people, it alone could not do much.

Some speakers pointed out that usually, the government-sponsored relief reached the victims only when they had suffered a lot. The disaster plan, they suggested, must be kept all time ready and the people and organizations involved in relief operation should move immediately upon receiving the information about a calamity. All of them should be fully aware of their duty and task.

The speakers recalled that Thatta, Badin, Kohistan, Thar, and other districts had recently faced calamities and it was observed that the victims had not been provided relief promptly.

The speakers attributed the lapse to the outdated relief policy and said that in many a cases, the relief reached the affected area only when the disaster was over after causing losses.

Some other speakers proposed that media people be imparted training so that they could be sensitized about disasters and relief measures. Highlighting the importance of media coverage of a disaster, they pointed out that foreign donors relied on media reports.

Mr M. H. Panhwar discussed Is the Present Drought Temporary or Long Lasting?, Mr Mansoor Raza of the Church World Service spoke on Disasters: Preparedness and Responses - Some Thoughts, and Mr Sikander Brohi on Existing Government Policies - An Analysis. Dr Aakash Ansari, Nazeer Memon, Mohammad Bari, and others also shared their experiences on the occasion.