The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday directed the district and sessions judges of Tharparkar and Umerkot to enquire into the potency of the relief activities being carried out by the federal and provincial government in famine-hit areas and present a report thereof.
The court asked them to carry out inquiry either personally or through their subordinate judicial officers within their jurisdiction and submit a report within three weeks. The court required them to gather data about recent deaths and the number of people affected by drought-like situation in Tharparkar and also the supply and requirement of food and health facilities.
A two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Maqbool Baqar gave these directions while hearing miscellaneous application filed by Pakistan Institute of Labour and Education Research (PILER) and other NGOs through which it sought action against the authorities over their failure to provide relief and health facilities to the people of famine-hit Tharparkar.
The bench directed the Sindh chief secretary, and health and food secretaries to file their responses to the application within three weeks.
Faisal Siddiqui Advocate, representing NGOs, submitted that recent media reports had indicated that the drought-like situation had recurred in Tharparkar district where provincial and federal governments had totally neglected to undertake measures to redeem people, especially children, from starvation and death.
Therefore, he requested the court to issue directives to the concerned district judges in Tharparkar and Umerkot to examine the ongoing relief work and also gather information about recent deaths by the famine.
