Tharparkar’s terrible plight

The Sindh government must take immediate remedial measures to improve the situation in Tharparkar before more deaths

UMERKOT: Tharparkar is spread over an area of 22,000 square kilometres with an estimated population of about 1.5 million residing in 2,300 villages and urban settlements. It is divided into six talukas and 69 union councils. Tharparkar is the district with the most extreme deficit of cereals and crop-based foods relative to per capita per day utilisation. It is the poorest district in rural Sindh with a caloric poverty rate of 72.4 per cent. It is also among the poorest districts in the country and has one of the lowest levels of human development. Tharparkar’s economy is based on casual labour and credit, with agriculture and livestock playing only a marginal role.

The main district headquarters hospital has only one male doctor, who is a paediatrician. There is no surgeon in any government medical facility. No secondary health facilities are available either. Dozens of positions of doctors are lying vacant in the district, suggesting that government doctors do not want to serve in the area. A rural health centre was established in 1979 in Chachro, but at present, there is no lady doctor or paediatrician there. A majority of the people cannot afford the transport and hospital expenses to travel to a medical facility outside the district. The Sindh government must take immediate remedial measures to improve the situation in Tharparkar before any more deaths happen.

Ali Nawaz Rahimoo

Published in The Express Tribune, November 4^th, 2014.

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