Launching ceremony of the expansion of UC-based Poverty ReducÂtion Program was held on Monday 08 January 2018 in Sukkur. SRSO is implementing the Union Council Based Poverty Reduction Program in 9 districts of the Sindh Province with the financial support of the Govt. of Sindh. The Sindh government has extended financial support to the rural support programs (RSPs) for rural people to enable them to articulate their aspirations and to effectively marshal the resources they need to meet their identified needs.
Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Mr. Bilawal Zardari accompanied by the Chief Minister of the SIndh Mr. Murad Ali Shah graced the occasion with their presence and inaugurated the Expansion of UCBPRP. Ex CM Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah and SRSO chairman Shoaib Sultan, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed KhurÂsheed Ahmed Shah, Sindh PPP President Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and other senior party leaders of PPP, elected public representatives, as well as senior officials of various departments, Members of Districts Councils and other dignitaries of the concerned districts,14000 Women members of Community Organizations and community leaders/ CRPs and media representatives attended the ceremony.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that poverty alleviation program 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 program would be extended to all districts of the province.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Mr. Bilawal Zardari said on the occasion, the PPP believed that NGOs including charity and public welfare organizations were carrying out a commendable job by looking after people at grass roots level and in urban as well as far off rural areas of the country. Their public welfare programs greatly benefited the needy, destitute and other deserving people, he observed, and said such programs were essentially required to ensure a continued improÂveÂment in the standard of life in this country. He 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 Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah for their efforts in this regard and noted that by extending financial and administrative support to the SRSO to implement the program, the Sindh government discharged its duty of alleviating poverty at UC level. Mr. Bhutto-Zardari told the audience that the program was launched in 2009 to initially cover around a few thousand deserving families in the UCs of four selected districts. âI am informed that by 2016, more than 600,000 families living in 395 UCs of 52 talukas in 11 districts were benefiting from the program,â 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 programs, projects and schemes were also in progress. 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. âItâs heartening to see that 97 per cent of the women paid off their loans while running their businesses,â he said. Mr. Bhutto-Zardari highlighted the role of his mother, Benazir Bhutto, in public welfare activities and women empowerment throughout her life, and said that being the first woman prime minister of the Muslim World, his mother did her best for the self-respect of womenfolk in Pakistani society. âA dictator in collusion with terrorists snatched my mother from me and the people of Pakistan lost a great politician,â he said, adding: âBut I regard every mother as my mother and have same the respect for each of themâ. He held out the assurance that the Benazir Income Support Programs (BISP), as well as all other such PPP initiatives, would be extended more vigorously to the people across the country after the PPP would return to Centre in the next election. He said PPP would continue to support any institution which came forward with the cause of empowering women of the low-income group. He hoped that the SRSO program would reach each and every district of Sindh. âBy making joint efforts, we and you can eliminate poverty from society,â he said, and pointed to former chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah to say that he was the man who had implemented the SRSO program in 2009 to alleviate poverty and empower women, especially the rural ones.
PPP women wing president MNA Ms. Faryal Talpur, speaking to the audience, said that those who were talking of a âchangeâ should realize that the real change was bringing about prosperity and ensure massive development in the countryÛ
Speaking at the occasion, the Chairman â SRSO (Mr. Shoaib Sultan Khan) was most grateful to Syed Nasir Hussain Shah for arranging the visit of Chairman â PPP (Mr. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and also inviting other dignitaries of the area where SRSO works. He was happy to meet the third generation of Bhutto family. Mr. Shoaib Sultan briefly illustrated the incorporation of SRSO. He informed about his efforts in convincing the Govt. of Sindh through the then Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, back in 2009, for the approval of UC based poverty reduction program in Shikarpur, Kashmore-Kandhkot & Jacobabad. He further added that upon acknowledging the results of the said program, the EU offered funding for implementing the same in eight more districts of Sindh in 2016. The same program was further replicated in another six districts in 2017 by the Govt. of Sindh. He also thanked all those who facilitated at every step including the Chairman P&D Mr. Muhammad Wasim and the Secretaries. He lauded the tremendous support of Sindh Government for approving the poverty reduction program for the province. He also acknowledged the efforts and dedication of staff for making it a success. He was happy to see how these poor rural Sindhi women got organized actively and very positively responded to these programs. Mr. Shoaib Sultan Khan further requested the Government to approve the remaining districts for UCBPRP. His request was recognized by the CM â Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah who in his speech announced to implement the same program in the remaining districts of Sindh, during the current year. The guests were greatly delighted to see these organized women, inspired and appreciated their work.