KARACHI: The Hari Welfare Association (HWA) on Thursday urged the government to provide relief aid to the peasants and laborers facing million of losses caused to them by ongoing heavy monsoon rains in Sindh.
In a statement, HWA President Akram Khaskheli said that thousands of peasants and labourers’ houses had collapsed, crops destroyed and cattle died due to lack of fodder and diseases, while daily wagers were in a state of hunger due to non-availability of labor in the rainy weather.
He said that children, women, and men were suffering from congenital diseases due to mosquitoes and stagnant water. The government should provide an immediate relief package to peasants and laborers.
Khaskheli said that the rain had caused havoc in Sindh since last month, due to which, cotton crops cultivating on millions of acres had been destroyed, number of cattle heads died in Sindh, particularly in Sanghar, Badin, Mirpurkhas, Umarkot, Hyderabad, Shaheed Benazirabad, Naushahro Feroze, Sukkur, Ghotki, Khairpur, Dadu and other districts.
“This has caused millions of rupees loss to the peasants, and they are facing debt. This situation can lead them to further destruction and become a reason for forced labor,” he said. He added that from 2013 to 2021, a total of 10,190 peasants and laborers had been released from the captivity of landlords and brickkiln owners through court orders. Seven years ago, the Sindh Bonded Labor Abolition Act 2016 was passed, but implementation was zero, he said.
Khaskheli said District Vigilance Committees were not constituted in all districts to monitor the situation of bonded labour. Due to the non-availability of economic opportunities in the field of agriculture and livestock and non-implementation of SBLSAA, there were certain chances that rain affected peasants and labourers could be victims of bonded labour, therefore, it was demanded that the government should take concrete measures to ensure livelihood support to peasants and daily wagers.
Currently, it was the cotton-picking season in Sindh, which provides an opportunity for livelihood to thousands of women and men, but due to the destruction of the crop, they could not find employment, says HWA President.
He said that the laborers had migrated from Mithi, Umerkot, and Mirpurkhas to Sanghar, Nawabshah, Naushahro Feroze, Khairpur, Matiari, and Hyderabad. Being residents of other districts, they were helpless at this time and were sitting under the open sky, so every district administration should help them immediately on the basis of migrant workers, he demanded.