'Landless peasants caught in debt trap'

Activists decry honour killings, domestic violence, child marriage

KARACHI:

Landless peasants are compelled to work as sharecroppers, often getting trapped in debt bondage to landowners.

The Hari Welfare Association (HWA), which marked the International Day of Rural Women at Hyderabad press club on Tuesday, lamented that even the initiatives like Benazir Hari Card are not benefitting the landless peasants.

The HWA's president Akram Ali Khaskheli said the card is going to benefit 298,000 registered farmers owning up to 25 acres of land. He deplored that the sharecroppers even did not receive any financial assistance after the 2022 rain triggered floods despite losing their produce and livestock.

Khaskheli told that the women's literacy rate in rural Sindh is around 23% per cent. Likewise, he added, only about 20% of all the teachers in the rural areas are female, referring to it as disproportionate.

Khaskheli said that more than 10 million women and girls in rural Sindh still lack access to education, healthcare, fair wages, and employment opportunities.