The premier and Sindh CM are urged to announce a development package for Sanghar on an urgent basis
SANGHAR: Although the Constitution of Pakistan does not allow any discriminatory or preferential treatment in matters of financial allocations, some areas of the country are receiving special development packages worth billions of rupees each at the cost of poorly-developed parts of Sindh. Giving huge development packages to already quite developed areas on purely political considerations is unjust, discriminatory and unconstitutional. Sanghar is a historic district, besides being the largest cotton-producing district of Pakistan. It is famous for the Hur Movement fought against British rule, its white sand desert and its long border with the Indian state of Rajasthan. All in all, the richness of Sanghar has not been featured prominently in the mainstream narratives of Pakistan, which has a habit of cherry-picking majority’s favourites and alienating many other regions.
It is, however, very regrettable that such a rich district, so full of potential, is highly backward socioeconomically. Unemployment is at its zenith. The infrastructure, particularly all the roads connecting the district with adjoining districts, stands completely ruined and damaged. The district headquarter town has no public park, no library and no public toilet. The drainage system has collapsed. The district has no medical or engineering college, as well as no campus of any notable university. The water supply ponds are fully contaminated and supply 100 per cent unhygienic and dirty water to its politically orphaned residents. The DHQ Hospital is facing severe shortage of doctors, particularly female doctors. The prime minister and Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah are very humbly urged to announce a development package for Sanghar on an urgent basis. Moreover, we also demand the extension of the Hyderabad-Mirpurkhass Dual Carriage Expressway to Sanghar-Head Jamrao-Sukkur to create a third strategic economic-communication corridor to connect Sindh with the rest of the country. This will really revolutionise the socioeconomic conditions of the people of Sindh.
Dr Roshni Huzoor Bukhsh
Published in The Express Tribune, April 17th, 2015.
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