Rabia Azfar Nizami, a lawmakers of Tehreek-e-Insaf in Sindh assembly, has claimed that Sindh’s literacy rate was even lower than Balochistan. She said that up to 100,000 children in the province were being used for beggary.
https://twitter.com/AamnaFasihi/status/1406640117339635717?s=20
She also said that “Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is a feminist but he should be informed that there is no school for girls in Thar.” Ms. Nizami further explained the situation and maintained that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has been in power for last more than 13 years in Sindh, but has failed to address the grievances of its people .
The opposition MPA lamented that the e-learning project in Sindh had not come out of the state of infancy despite the passage of several years. She added that furniture had not been purchased for the government-run schools in Sindh for the last eight years.
There were 29 teacher training institutions in Sindh but only two of them were functional, the PTI MPA said, adding that educational standards were virtually non-existent in Sindh.
Notably, in 2018, a report issued by the Reform Support Unit (RSU) of the Sindh Education Department claimed that over 23,000 out of a total of 42,383 public sector schools in Sindh have been functioning without electricity, while only 734 have libraries.
The total number of primary elementary and higher secondary schools in Sindh decreased from 47,557 in 2011 to 42,383 in 2017. The Sindh Education Department cites shutting down inoperative schools as the reason for the decline.
The number of government-run schools for girls in the province has also decreased from 7,801 in 2011 to 5,385 in 2017. RSU also observed a declining trend in the total number of female students enrolled in schools, which fell from 17, 58,853 students in 2011 to 16, 52,025 students in 2017.
Federal Government’s efforts to food security in Thar
The Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (Parc) is working to ensure food security in Thar desert and for the purpose it had cultivated different kinds of fruits, vegetables and fodder crops to promote agriculture sector and create livelihood opportunities for the locals.
Federal Govt research made impossible into possible and innovating green revolution in Thar Sind. Where is Sind Govt who spend tons of billion in agriculture 1/n pic.twitter.com/h6mK8Y6JG4
— Muzzammil Aslam (@MuzzammilAslam3) June 20, 2021
Parc Chairman Dr Muhammad Azeem said the council was engaged to strengthen government’s efforts to eliminate malnutrition and hunger by intervening through agriculture and livestock development.
The Parc, he said, in collaboration with non-governmental organisations had developed different farmers clusters and was providing seeds of different beans to farmers in order to enhance yields.
“We are providing about 200 to 300 mounds seeds of different beans, besides providing 50 to 60 mound beans for the farmers of Tharparkar,” he added.
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“We are also working on preservation of local species and preserved about 50 local species including trees, medicinal plants and cultivated moringa”.
Part 2 : 2/n pic.twitter.com/PDDuZOMsy9
— Muzzammil Aslam (@MuzzammilAslam3) June 20, 2021
Meanwhile, Parc North Zone Director Dr Attaullah said that 14 varieties of guava, matching the local ecology, were also developed and distributed among the farmers to develop fruit orchids.
Besides, 38 varieties of dates were also grown and 13 types of different grasses over 10 acres of land were also grown, he said adding that these interventions had helped create livelihood opportunities as well as fulfilling the food requirements of the local communities.
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Meanwhile, forest blocks were also established on four acres and different fruit plants including olive cultivated, he said adding that jojoba plants were grown over 45 acres in order to develop orchards and fruit farming in these areas.