The government should also allocate funds of the Thar coal project
HYDERABAD: Recently, the Thari people have been creating agitation for their rights because the government and multinational companies are threatening them to evacuate the coal mining areas in Tharparkar. History tells us that the government does not compensate the people where resources are available for their development. Ghotki is a resourceful district where natural resources are available but people live in chronic poverty with low literacy rates and high mortality rates. The Thari people are forced into evacuating from coal rich areas, which means they are being excluded from the development in the places they call home. The Government of Sindh has denied the standard of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its principles in the violation of economic rights for indigenous communities.
Thar is a desert that has been facing famine and droughts for the last seven years and the government has not taken any concrete action to reduce its vulnerability. Thousands of innocent Thari children have died due to the lack of health facilities and food security. Now is the time to take serious action for the rehabilitation of the Thari people and compensate as per the guiding principles of CSR. The government should also allocate funds of the Thar coal project for the provision of safe drinking water, sanitation, food security and other development work.
Irshad Ahmed
Published in The Express Tribune, December 11th, 2016.
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