According to newspaper reports, the World Bank is considering providing financial assistance to the Indus Eco-region Community Livelihood Project, aimed at improving the livelihoods of the local communities by various means. The financial assistance will focus on the areas relating to the non-farm income, strengthening value chains and reducing gender inequality in society. The financial support will result in enhancing livelihoods of the rural population through community-based programs, involving establishment of institutions for the poor, improving access to public and private services, and making rural goods producers more attractive to private enterprises. The project will also raise the living standard of the local communities through improved natural resource management. The project focuses on four sites such as Keenjhar Lake in Thatta, Chotiari Reservoir in Sanghar, Nara Canal and surrounding communities in Khairpur and communities near the Manchar Lake in Jamshoro District. The project will cover an area of 2,168 kilometers in Sindh.
The rural centers of the Sindh province face various challenges, including concentration of wealth in a few hands, plight of the farm labourers at the hands of big landlords and lack of basic education and health facilities. If the government wants to improve the living standard of the people, it has to stimulate rural economy and concentrate especially on the landless communities living along the Indus basin. The World Bank project is related to improving the economic condition of the local communities by training the individuals through fisher sustainability schools. The project also includes establishment of fisher groups, chilling units, ice boxes and packaging units in the areas under consideration. The communities will be provided some basic assets like stoves, chillers, indigo seeds and processing units, keeping in view that the project should not have any adverse environmental or social impact on the individuals in the region.
The government launches promising projects to change the lot of the less-privileged societies in the country, but such projects are often left half way when the priorities are abruptly changed. There is a need to promote alternative means of livelihood for women and youth in the rural areas while provision of health and education facilities also have paramount importance. There is a need to launch concerted efforts involving federal and provincial governments as well as international organisations to ensure transparency in the use of proposed funds and achievement of the desired goals. It is to be noted that the government liability is always attached with the fair, equitable and transparent use of foreign funding which is key to success of any project.