Most food-affected people still remain deprived of Watan Cards and many of those lucky enough to secure one have not received the first and the second instalments of cash grant from the government so far, revealed a report issued on Friday.
Resultantly, the flood-affected communities are facing severe problems including flood insecurity, as they usually spend the money from the card to purchase food items.
The report titled ‘Civil Society Report on Flood Situation’ was prepared and issued by the People’s Accountability Commission on Floods (PACF), a joint network of flood-affected communities and volunteers.
The report was issued during a press conference at the Karachi Press Club by PACF members including Adam Malik, Rafiq Channa, Saleem Abbasi and Waheed Panhwar.
According to the PACF field survey, the process of issuing Watan Cards by NADRA is rather slow. New processes and systems have been evolved through the agents from whom people receive their cards after paying a bribe ranging between Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per card.
The PACF said in the report that the flood-hit people have to stand in queues for about eight hours to receive a Watan Card, and this particularly affects the elders and women.
There are cases in which ill people have died after standing in queues for many hours. This is a violation of international commitments with regard to humanitarian support, especially the SPHERE Standards
The PACF said in the report, “Cards have been distributed to eligible people in some cases, but there is huge number of people without the first instalment of cash, as in many districts, it has not been transferred to the cards distributed. People are visiting ATM centres with the hope to get their money and unnecessarily bearing the cost of transport. In some cases, people are waiting for the second instalment which has not been paid by the government. According to the report, there is no mechanism for complaint redressal with regard to the scheme. As a result, poor people are running from pillar to post but to no avail, and there are agents looting them under the pretext of resolving their card-related issues.”
The PACF also expressed concern that the dewatering process in the flood-hit areas is very slow and 60 percent areas are still under water in the worst-affected districts. In some cases, whole tehsils are under water.
According to the report, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued a policy decision in which it has banned distribution of cash grant amount among the flood affected communities by national and international organisations.
“The key objective of the NDMA is to save the lives and livelihoods of the local communities in the case of any disaster; however it has refused to allow the UN and other international organisations to provide relief to the flood-affected communities.”
In fact, the “Cash for Choice” happens to be the key support programme of the humanitarian organisations in the initial post-disaster days to provide cash to the poorest of the poor and most vulnerable households.
“By placing a ban on the ‘Cash for Choice’, the NDMA has not only violated the international laws on human rights, but is also responsible for creating food insecurity among the poor flood-affected communities of the province.”
According to the report, the health of the affected population is a matter of prime concern. “While the outbreak of the diseases like anaemia, paratyphoid enteric fever, esquistomiasis, trachoma, dehydration, hepatitis, ARI and ophthalmic infections are reported in basic health units regularly, the major problem has emerged in shape of malaria and it has increased dramatically.”
It was stated in the report that biological and chemical contamination in canals and stagnant water sources can increase the number of patients, where there are limited sources of freshwater available. The shortage of freshwater in wells and water ponds can result in an increase of dehydration cases and deaths.
The PACF recommended that a proper system should be evolved for the distribution of Watan Cards, and its instalments should be released forthwith. The dewatering process should be increased to drain floodwater from towns, villages and agricultural areas by providing pumps and opening up natural drainage systems.
The ban on the distribution of cash support among the flood-affected communities by national and international organisations should also be removed.
