Watan cards: Flood survivors petition against ‘discrimination’

Politicians and residents of Thatta go to court, saying govt ignored them during Watan card distribution.

KARACHI:

Elected representatives, politicians and residents of Thatta district have gone to court, saying the government has ignored them while distributing Watan cards for flood survivors.

Chief Justice Mushir Alam and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi heard the constitutional petition on Thursday. The petitioners maintain that workers and supporters of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) are getting Watan cards while others, especially those who belong to political opponents, are being ignored and discriminated against.

When the petition came up for hearing, Sindh Additional Advocate-General Sarwar Khan pointed out that the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) is the authority that issues Watan cards and therefore it is the main entity that should respond — but they were not named in the petition. The government’s lawyer Rizwan Dodani sought some time to seek NADRA’s input.

The AAG also submitted a reply jointly signed by Thatta Revenue EDO and DCO along with a number of annexure on the distribution of wheat seed and fertiliser.

The bench ordered Revenue EDO and DCO to submit a tehsil-wise report within two weeks. The hearing was adjourned to a date to be fixed by the office of the court.

According to the reply submitted on Thursday, the respondent officers maintained that during the flood, cooked food, rations, tents and water was provided to displaced people with the help of NGOs. After the flood, the district administration is now distributing wheat seed and fertiliser based on land holdings. Eight out of nine talukas were ravaged by the flood and a sizeable amount of financial aid is being disbursed through the Watan cards.

The statement also maintains that 70,000 heads of families were provided Rs20,000 each.

The distribution is going on with the help of 70 NGOs and the United Nations World Food Programme.

Around 36,000 fertiliser bags were arranged to distribute to flood survivors and out of these, 24,400 have been distributed in Thatta, Sajawal, Mirpur Bathoro, Jati and Shah Bunder. The reply said that Rs2 million are required to pay the unloading charges, which have not been issued yet by the agriculture department.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2011.