KARACHI, Dec 12: Sindh Chief Secretary Fazlur Rehman has directed the officials concerned to take meaningful steps for poverty alleviation by providing preferential assistance to those who are living below the poverty line and ensure that practical work in this regard must start from January 2009.

He issued the directive while chairing the first meeting of the poverty reduction programme’s steering committee at his office on Friday. The meeting was attended by Air Marshal (retd) Riazuddin Shaikh, Additional Chief Secretary Nazar Hussain Maher and other officials.

The chief secretary, who is also the committee’s chairman, said concrete steps were being taken for solving basic problems of water and sanitation, health and education besides provision of employment.

He said that micro-credit facility would be provided to the poor residents of Shikarpur and Kandhkot, which had been selected as model districts under the poverty reduction programme. A micro-credit of Rs15,000 out of Community Investment Fund (CIF) would be provided to each head of the most poor families in rural union councils of the two districts under a two-year operational plan while health insurance facility would also be extended to the families.

He said the initiative would be linked to the Benazir Income Support Programme in order to provide benefit to the most possible number of people. In this regard, training would also be provided to literate, half-literate and illiterate persons in various skills under the Sindh technical and vocational training authority in coordination with the skill development programme, he added.

The committee will hold its next meeting on December 29.

—APP