THIS refers to the editorial ‘Thar deaths’ (Oct 22). The editorial rightly asserts that for several years now, the Thar region of Sindh has been in the news because of high child deaths and maternal mortality rates.

Over 500 children have died during the current year in Thar. Underage marriages are cited the main cause for deaths of low weight babies.

Underage marriages occur owing to illiteracy and poverty, which are the mother of all ills. To prevent early marriages, it may be ensured that no girl of school going age is out of school. The prolonged period of stay in academic institutions will delay marriages.

As a measure to alleviate poverty, the government may make permanent arrangement for procuring all handicrafts and traditional embroidery dresses direct from artisans in Thar for display and sale in national and international exhibitions.

The district of Tharparkar should be included in the Naya Pakistan housing programme. For the people holding the CNIC of Thar, registration fee Rs250 should be waived for submitting the application forms.

Sada Hayat Jalbani

Karachi

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2018