Accountability: SHC orders inspection of relief activities in Thar
The judicial team will visit various districts and submit its report to the court by May 19
The judicial team will visit various districts and submit its report to the court by May 19. PHOTO: EXPRESS
HYDERABAD:
The Sindh High Court on Tuesday ordered the judicial inspection of relief activities in Tharparkar district, where the Sindh government had belatedly declared a drought in February, 2014.
With the dreadful conditions still persisting, complaints from the drought-affected population frequently surface regarding the lack of transparency in the relief distribution.
The bench, comprising Justices Munib Akhtar and Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro, heard three petitions by the relief inspecting civil judge of Tharparkar, Mian Fayaz Rabbani, and residents Bhomon Kolhi and Muhammad Sharif.
According to the order, the district and sessions judge of Tharparkar has been directed to constitute one or more inspection teams headed by either himself or an additional judge on May 15. The teams will go out to different parts of the district to monitor the relief activities.
"We are not looking for reports being submitted that will look good on paper. We look for proactive action being taken in fact," the order read. The SHC ordered the district judge to convene a meeting with the relief inspecting judge, deputy commissioner and SSP on May 15 and form the teams on the same day.
Accompanied by the assistant commissioner of the respective taluka and the DSP, the team's head will visit sites for monitoring.
DC's reply
Earlier, deputy commissioner Asif Jameel submited a report in the SHC, denying charges of misappropriation, corruption and negligence in the distribution process. According to him, 769,966 wheat bags of 100 kilogrammes each have so far been distributed in six separate phases. Every family received a 50kg bag in each phase.
A beneficiary was required to be the head of a family, married and holding a CNIC. "NADRA provided population details to the district administration according to which there were 235,765 heads of families in Tharparkar. However, the Sindh government provided wheat bags for 253,580 families for each of the first three phases. In the three later phases, the allocation was slightly increased to 259,946 with the addition of 6,366 more families," the DC claimed.
He admitted that the first phase of distribution was 'prone to complexities' due to the lack of experience of the revenue officials and depot keepers regarding distribution, supervision and monitoring. But he maintained that complaints in the later stages were mostly found baseless after inquiries.
Giving an example, he said that newlywed couples, who got married after the distribution process had started, were claiming eligibility for the wheat support. When such people were denied the aid by revenue officials, they cried out at the distribution process, he added.
Responding to complaints about the reverse osmosis plants, the DC held the local people's taste of water responsible for the complaints. "These people have been consuming brackish and hard water for drinking and it will take them time to develop a taste for the RO plants.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2015.
The Sindh High Court on Tuesday ordered the judicial inspection of relief activities in Tharparkar district, where the Sindh government had belatedly declared a drought in February, 2014.
With the dreadful conditions still persisting, complaints from the drought-affected population frequently surface regarding the lack of transparency in the relief distribution.
The bench, comprising Justices Munib Akhtar and Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro, heard three petitions by the relief inspecting civil judge of Tharparkar, Mian Fayaz Rabbani, and residents Bhomon Kolhi and Muhammad Sharif.
According to the order, the district and sessions judge of Tharparkar has been directed to constitute one or more inspection teams headed by either himself or an additional judge on May 15. The teams will go out to different parts of the district to monitor the relief activities.
"We are not looking for reports being submitted that will look good on paper. We look for proactive action being taken in fact," the order read. The SHC ordered the district judge to convene a meeting with the relief inspecting judge, deputy commissioner and SSP on May 15 and form the teams on the same day.
Accompanied by the assistant commissioner of the respective taluka and the DSP, the team's head will visit sites for monitoring.
DC's reply
Earlier, deputy commissioner Asif Jameel submited a report in the SHC, denying charges of misappropriation, corruption and negligence in the distribution process. According to him, 769,966 wheat bags of 100 kilogrammes each have so far been distributed in six separate phases. Every family received a 50kg bag in each phase.
A beneficiary was required to be the head of a family, married and holding a CNIC. "NADRA provided population details to the district administration according to which there were 235,765 heads of families in Tharparkar. However, the Sindh government provided wheat bags for 253,580 families for each of the first three phases. In the three later phases, the allocation was slightly increased to 259,946 with the addition of 6,366 more families," the DC claimed.
He admitted that the first phase of distribution was 'prone to complexities' due to the lack of experience of the revenue officials and depot keepers regarding distribution, supervision and monitoring. But he maintained that complaints in the later stages were mostly found baseless after inquiries.
Giving an example, he said that newlywed couples, who got married after the distribution process had started, were claiming eligibility for the wheat support. When such people were denied the aid by revenue officials, they cried out at the distribution process, he added.
Responding to complaints about the reverse osmosis plants, the DC held the local people's taste of water responsible for the complaints. "These people have been consuming brackish and hard water for drinking and it will take them time to develop a taste for the RO plants.”
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2015.