Bilwal Visits Cluster Model School

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that the PPP believed that NGOs like Sindh Rural Support Organization (SRSO)

SUKKUR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 09th Jan, 2018 ) :Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has said that the PPP believed that NGOs like Sindh Rural Support Organization (SRSO) and other public welfare organisations were carrying out commendable job by looking after people from grass root level and in far off rural areas of the country.

Their public welfare projects greatly benefited the needy, destitute and other deserving people, he observed, and said such programmes were essentially required to ensure a continued improvement in the quality of life in this country.

He expressed these views during a visit of a model cluster school, managed by SRSO. The PPP chairman said that his party always worked with NGOs and social organizations because public-private partnership was beneficial to masses and helped bring about prosperity in society.

It also created employment and business opportunities, he added. He appreciated the SRSO and its education projects which is being implemented specially in Kashmore-Kandhkot, Shikarpur and Jacababad districts and noted that by extending financial and administrative support to the SRSO to implement the programme, the Sindh government discharged its duty of alleviating poverty and promoting education at UC level.

Senior Manager Social Services Sector Naimatullah Shaikh while briefing the Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto said that SRSO made an agreement with Community Development Program (CDP), Planning & Development Department, and Government of Sindh (GOS).

He told that the specific objective is to provide quality education to the children of rural areas of respective districts through clustering of school facilities to 3 schools situated including Garhi Sahib Khan Taluka Garhi Yaseen district Shikarpur, Sohrab Khan Pahore Taluka Kanpur district Shikarpur and Bahdur Khan Koso Taluka Tangwahani district Kashmore-Kandhkot.

Shaikh further said that the project was designed to bring, out of school children into schools, while providing conducive educational environment, and reduce and prevent dropouts together with providing skilled teaching staff and educational kit.

This project will be executed through Local Support Orgnization - a cluster of organized villages to be in line with the approach of Rural Support Programs (RSPs). The Project ensures linkages among the rural households, Government departments, agencies, other service providers, stakeholders and between government's social protection programs and the poorest, he added.

On the occasion, Chairman PPP has assured the SRSO that it will allocate required funds in this regard.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Minister for Planning and Development Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, Leader of the Opposition Syed Khursheed Shah, Ex CM Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Chairman SRSO/RSPN Shoib Sultan Khan, CEO, SRSO Muhammad Dital Kalhoro and others were also present.

Earlier, speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the UC-based Poverty Reduction Programme under the auspices of the Sindh Rural Support Organization (SRSO), Bilwal said that the programme was launched in 2009 to initially cover around a few thousand deserving families in the UCs of four selected districts.

I am informed that by 2016, more than 600,000 families living in 395 UCs of 52 talukas in 11 districts were benefiting from the programme, he said. Appreciating the progress, the PPP chairman expressed his confidence that within the next five years, the coverage would touch the figure of 1.1 million families.

He said the PPP and Sindh government had resolved to alleviate poverty from across the province for which several other programmes, projects and schemes were also in pipeline. He stressed the need for women empowerment at all levels.

He noted that the PPP and Sindh government arranged for interest-free loans extended to womenfolk to enable them to run their own ventures in different trades like livestock, tailoring, embroidery etc.

"It's heartening to see that 97 per cent of the women paid off their loans while running their businesses," he said. "By making joint efforts, we and you can eliminate poverty from society," he said, and pointed to former chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah to say that he was the man who had implemented the SRSO programme in 2009 to alleviate poverty and empower women, specially the rural ones.

PPP women wing president MNA Faryal Talpur, speaking to the audience, said that those who were talking of a "change" should realize that the real change was bringing about prosperity and ensure massive development in the country.

Now Asif Ali Zardari and Bilalwal Bhutto-Zardari were making all out efforts in this regard, she added. Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that poverty alleviation programme had been approved by [then prime minister] Benazir Bhutto and launched by [then Sindh chief minister] Syed Qaim Ali Shah.

Now it was being extended to eight more districts. With the required funding expected to be received from the European Union next year, this programme would be extended to all districts of the province, he added. Syed Qaim Ali Shah and SRSO chairman Shoaib Sultan also spoke.