Human rights commission expresses concern over Thar situation
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MITHI: The members of National Commission For Human Rights (NCHR) visited Thar and expressed dissatisfaction over the worsening situation of the masses living in the drought hit district of Sindh province on Thursday.
NCHR members Justice (retd) Ali Nawaz Chohan, Anees Haroon along with other NRCP members told local journalists at Thar Press Club that due to droughts and the subsequent callousness on the part of the concerned functionaries, "situation in the district is worsening and is set to assume an alarming proportion".
Related: 143 Thar children died in four months: official
The group members maintained that the deaths of hundreds of children is proof enough of the alarming situation in rain-dependent arid zone, terming the negligence shown by the Sindh government as the "height of bad governance".
About the inactive health department, they claimed that no effort has been made by the provincial government to fill the posts of over three hundred doctors.
Also Read: Drinking arsenic in Thar
According to a February 11 report, The toll of children's death in the district has risen to 188 since January 1 this year.
Addressing a press conference in Mithi on February 10, Sindh Health Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar had admitted that the government was unable to control the fatalities of malnourished children but was focusing on an agenda to provide maximum healthcare facilities to pregnant women of the desert to avoid premature births.
Dahar said he had directed the concerned officials to ensure that lady health workers perform their duties honestly in order to be able to guide local women.
The provincial minister observed that availability of safe drinking water was a major issue in Thar, which was being addressed by Sindh government through installation of Reverse Osmosis plants.
PPP lawmaker and the district president of party's Thar chapter Dr Mehesh Malani said that children were dying in other areas as well but "media is only creating a hype in Thar", asserting that there was no drought-like situation in Thar.
