Five days into Sindh lockdown, people still await ration bags

Confined to their homes, labourers accuse government of making false promises

HYDERABAD: With delays in the distribution of promised rations to the underprivileged people of society confined to their houses, there have been protests among widespread demands for food, especially by those who eke out a living on daily wages.

"Although the [Hyderabad] district administration is planning to stagger the distribution of ration by the non-governmental organisations, making one NGO responsible for a particular area, we don't yet know when the government funds will be utilised for this purpose," an official of an NGO, who attended a meeting chaired by MPA Sharjeel Inam Memon and Hyderabad deputy commissioner Ayesha Abro on Friday, told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity.

According to him, the administration, in consultation with the NGOs, is devising strategies to avoid overlapping areas. "The government wants to ensure that the majority of the deserving people receive the food supplies through the NGOs."
Although the volunteers engaged in the ration supply welcomed the move, they appeared to be unsure why the Sindh government's released funds of Rs20 million were not yet being utilised.

"A participant even asked the meeting how and when the administration would spend those funds but couldn't get a certain answer," a representative of another NGO who attended the meeting told The Express Tribune.

The only promising outcome of the meeting was an assurance from the association of leading food markets that they would not take profits off the NGOs buying ration bags from them.

An official of the Saylani Welfare Trust, who also requested that he should not be named, said that their organisation could distribute cooked food at a fixed point but it was difficult for them to map out the deserving population in the city.

Meanwhile, protesters emerged in some parts of the city. The protesters had gathered outside the bureaucracy's regional headquarters, where a meeting was scheduled to occur on Saturday.
They claimed that the Pakistan Peoples Party's local leaders had promised to begin the ration supply immediately after the lockdown started, but there had been no distribution of the food items even by the fifth day of the lockdown.

Hali Road residents also held a demonstration demanding the supply of food.

"The daily wage labourers in our village have been confined to their homes. The government gave us the false hope of supplying free rations but people are being forced to suffer hunger and malnutrition," said a resident of Masu Bhurgari village in rural Hyderabad.

An influential person belonging to Husri, another town in rural Hyderabad, told The Express Tribune that he had been approached by hundreds of families crying over the shortage of food. "Unlike the middle-class people, the daily wage earners neither stock nor do they have the means to stock food supplies for a month or longer," he observed.

While the complete lockdown began from March 23, all shops except those selling food items were asked to close on March 20. "Labourers who earn a living by moving furniture from shops to homes or offices have no means to provide food to their families," bewailed furniture shop owner Haji Younus.
Recommendations

"Corruption and nepotism in the distribution of ration can be dangerous," warned Grand Democratic Alliance general secretary Ayaz Latif Palijo, suggesting that committees, including bar members, journalists and local traders, should be formed for distribution in local areas.

"Ration centres should be set up at government schools in every area and the headmasters should be put in charge of them," proposed Awami Tehreek president Sajjad Hussain Chandio.
Pointing out that the ration distribution by legislators and elected representatives during the floods of 2010 and 2011 was marred by corruption and nepotism, he warned that this would recur if political affiliation was prioritised again.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Ali Palh also opposed political interference in the preparation of lists of deserving persons, suggesting that the relevant NGOs and representatives of the business community should be included in the committees.