HYDERABAD, Oct 3: The senior member, Board of Revenue, and relief commissioner, Sindh, Manzoor Hussain Bhutto, has said that the recovery of revenue tax in Tharparkar district had been stopped and the people had been exempted from the payment of land revenue.

He said this while talking to newsmen during his visit to the government food godowns on Thursday.

About the ADBP loans, the senior member, Board of Revenue, said that the same notification would be applicable this year which had been enforced last year.

He said that the government would not abandon the drought-affected people of Tharparkar and it would take effective steps to ameliorate their suffering.

He supervised the distribution of 178,000 wheat bags among the poor people of Thar.

Official sources told this correspondent that Mr Manzoor assured the people that the government was not oblivious of the difficulties being faced by the drought-affected people, and added that a 100-kg wheat bag was being given free to each family from the Baitul Maal and Zakat funds for a period of two months.

The relief commissioner said that arrangements were also being made to supply pulses and edible oil to the drought-affected people.

Later, while talking to newsmen, he said that there was no need of issuing a fresh notification for declaring Tharparkar District as a calamity-affected area because a notification to this effect had already been issued three months back which was still in force.

NA CANDIDATE: The National Alliance candidate from PS-47, Qasimabad, Dr Najeeb Ahmed Memon, has rejected the rumours that he has retired from the contest.