MITHI: Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah has warned that he will order investigation agencies to launch thorough probe into alleged malpractices in the non-governmental organisations and bring all the errant organisations to justice.
Mr Shah said at a meeting with government officials, representatives of NGOs and members of civil society at deputy commissioner’s house here on Thursday that that most of the NGOs that claimed to work on nutrition in Thar had miserably failed in their objective while some had only made money by selling sufferings of starving Thari people. Nobody would be allowed to exploit Tharis’ plight for personal ends, he warned.
He said the NGOs, which had been non-functional and doing nothing except exploiting the Tharis’ plight, would not be allowed to operate in the area to further cash in on people’s miseries.
He ordered functionaries concerned to submit to him a detailed report about the performance of NGOs and other social welfare organisations engaged in relief operations in the drought-hit desert region.
He told media persons after the meeting that he would request the federal government to issue directives to banks as well as NGOs involved in lending and micro-finance to suspend recoveries from Tharis as long as drought conditions prevailed in the region.
He said that many people had reportedly committed suicide out of shame after having failed to pay back loans and warned irrigation department officials of stern action for stopping water supply to Thar.
It was highly lamentable that the only irrigation channel supplying water to the desert region had been running dry for the past many years, he said.
Mr Shah said that in addition to doctors, over 500 lady health workers would be hired soon and 236 more reverse osmosis plants would be installed in Thar villages to meet their water needs.
He said that main focus of his two-day visit to Thar was to assess the situation on the ground so that sustainable policies could be framed for the area. The entire Sindh government was blamed for the nagging crisis in Thar because of incompetence of a few officials, he said.
Before winding up his Mithi visit, Mr Shah spoke at the concluding day of conference of women local support organisations organised by Thardeep and said that women should acquire skills needed for improving health of neonates, infants and children.
Later, he visited Thar coalfield, where he was briefed by officials of Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company about the power plants and other projects. Mr Shah also visited the controversial waste-water reservoir at Gorano and then reached Islamkot where he met the protesting workers of Underground Coal Gasification plant and asked their leaders to meet him in Karachi so that he could talk to the functionaries concerned for their withheld salaries.
Secretaries, directors general and other high-ranking officials of various departments accompanied the chief secretary during the visit.
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After his return from Thar, the chief secretary visited Laar Museum and Maulvi Haji Ahmed Mallah Public Library here and met notables, writers and workers of the two facilities. Mr Shah said that he would fulfil all demands of people and sanction funds for the resolution of their problems.
Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2018
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