350 families get Watan Cards in Sukkur, others are rejected

Watan Cards is a government scheme through which flood survivors would be able to get compensation worth Rs20,000.

SUKKUR: More than 350 flood-affected families were issued Watan Cards at two relief camps on Thursday.

Watan Cards, a government scheme through which flood survivors would be able to get compensation worth Rs20,000, was launched by Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah on Wednesday.

Survivors in large numbers gathered at the two relief camps - one set up at Islamia Arts and Commerce College and the other at Sukkur Public School - to register with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).

Sukkur DDO Revenue Sumair Syed supervised the registration, while a large number of policemen were deployed at the camps.

“We have arranged proper steps to avoid any mismanagement,” the DDO revenue told The Express Tribune, adding, “Watan cards are like ATM cards and will be activated after 48 hours after they are issued.”

Murad Channa, a resident of Fakir Mohammad Channa village near Thull, was pleased with the government’s initiative.

“I am happy that I got a Watan Card and at least I will have Rs20,000 in the scheme’s first phase,” he said.

However, not everyone was able to benefit. “I have been denied a Watan Card, because they say that we are illegal occupants and are therefore not eligible for it,” said the elderly Haseena Khatoon, a resident of Kachcha Bunder in Sukkur.

“My house collapsed in the floods and being a poor widow, I am not able to reconstruct it,” she said. “They are giving cards to the people of Jacobabad and Kashmore, but not treating us properly.”

A young woman, who has also been denied a card, said the walls of her house have developed cracks.

“My husband divorced me four years ago and I used to sew clothes to earn money for myself and my six-year-old daughter. If I am not eligible for the Watan Card, who is?” she complained.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2010.