WE often hear that Thar has roads, hospitals, educational institutes, electricity and drinking water, etc, but the availability of all such facilities can only be seen in urban areas of this remote eastern region of Sindh.

In rural areas, the situation is exactly the opposite. People still live with almost no facilities. There are several villages in Tharparkar district where people drink stored rainwater or contaminated water from wells. They cannot shift patients to hospitals for there are hardly any roads linking those villages to the cities.

They do not have electricity in their villages. Hardly two or three children can acquire education up to matriculation.

People in the urban areas of Thar have been living in such conditions for the last several centuries. Although they are now used to it, does it mean they should not be provided with basic facilities?

In Mithi, the capital of Tharpakar, there are about 50 offices of NGOs working for a long period to bring a change in the lives of Tharis. But they too have failed to bring prosperity in the region.

It is the government’s responsibility to provide every possible facility to the people of Thar.

Muhammad Abbas Khaskheli

Mithi

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2017