Govt springs into action: Rs1 billion for starving Tharis

Premier refuses to attend Sindh govt luncheon.

HYDERABAD/ MITHI:

Alarmed at the scale of the calamity, Prime Minister Nawaz announced a Rs1 billion aid package on Monday for the drought-hit district of Tharparkar.

“I want to know why this happened. The provincial government should find out the facts,” he said during a meeting where he was briefed about the situation by Deputy Commissioner Akram Asif, NDMA Chairman Maj Gen (retd) Muhammad Saeed Aleem, Corps Commander Karachi Lt Gen Sajjd Ghani and Health Secretary Iqbal Durrani.

Up to 132 children have died – with three more deaths of infants on Monday – since December due to illnesses attributed to malnutrition.

The prime minister, along with federal ministers and leaders of his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, visited Tharparkar’s Mithi town. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the patron-in-chief of the Sindh ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, and Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah hosted the visit.

“An identical situation [of drought] exists in Cholistan (Punjab) but they haven’t suffered from the same situation we see here,” the prime minister said, while commenting on the factors identified as the cause of the prevailing situation.

Earlier, he visited Civil Hospital, Mithi, where 49 children have died since January, as well as a medical camp of the Pakistan Army.

“The prime minister appeared troubled when he saw the children,” the Dean of Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences’ department of paediatrics, Dr Salma Shaikh, who briefed PM Nawaz at the hospital, told The Express Tribune.

Later, he refused to attend a luncheon hosted by the Sindh government, keeping in view the deprivation of the people. “The government should have utilised their funds for the relief of the people,” he was quoted as saying.

Separately, PM Nawaz also chaired a meeting, which saw shoulders shrugging and smouldering exchanges between leaders of the two political parties. While the ministers, political leaders and government officials, besides the prime minister, spoke at the meeting, Bilawal sat silent.

“I don’t understand how the situation got this worse,” jibed former chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim, who belongs to Tharparkar. “If we had good hospitals, the deaths would have been prevented.”

Another PML-N leader Shah Muhammad Shah pointed out the lack of transparency in the distribution of 60,000 wheat bags. He requested PM Nawaz to form a committee of notable citizens to oversee the utilisation of the Rs1 billion federal aid.

Regarding the reprimand of incompetent officials, the chief minister told the premier that his government has already suspended the district’s police chief Abid Qaimkhani, deputy commissioner Aqeeluz Zaman and others. Mithi hospital’s civil surgeon Jaur Kumar has also been arrested.

Hospital gates closed

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Bilawal arrived at the hospital in the same BMW, two hours before the premier and visited different wards of the hospitals. He was briefed about the steps taken by the health authorities.

“Sir, the situation would be under control if competent officials in the hospitals are appointed,” Dr Dileep of the Mithi hospital briefed Bilawal. “The situation in the hospital is very critical, please do something,” he requested.

The PPP leader did not reply or direct any official. But he spoke to the people admitted or whose children were being treated. “I am Benazir Bhutto’s son, Bilawal,” he introduced himself to a woman in the ward. “Don’t worry, your son would be fine.”

But instead of providing hope and relief, the visit by both the PPP patron-in-chief and the prime minister irked and troubled the affected families and residents. Not only were shopkeepers directed to close their shops, but the gates of the biggest public health facility were closed for patients.

“Please let me go to hospital. Our child is in serious condition,” Ahmed, the uncle of a newborn baby cried at the main gate. “Leave this spot and go to the camp,” an official pushed the man along with the child.

The baby closed his eyes and the mother cried, “Please help! My baby has stopped breathing,” the mother cried and ran towards the gate. A police official, after confirming that the baby’s condition was serious, allowed them to go inside the hospital.

When the prime minister found about this, he ordered for the gates to be opened.

Three more infants dead

Meanwhile, three newborns died on Monday. Paediatrician Dr Bhag Chand at Civil Hospital, Hyderabad, informed that two infants, Babu, son of Wasdev, and an unnamed girl daughter of Sameena, died at the hospital. “Almost all the 12 children from Tharparkar, who have been admitted in the hospital since last week, appear underweight,” said Dr Chand.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2014.