The Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) has launched two Integrated Area Upgrading Projects (IAUP) worth Rs 3.394 million in villages Sereh and Seri about 40 km away from here in Union Council Chirah. The World Bank is the major donor agency to the PPAF that often shares uplift programmes with a closed ally Community Uplift Program (CUP). The current projects are also a joint venture of both PPAF and CUP. The programmes aim to integrate various infrastructures like safe drinking water, surfacing of streets, sanitation, roads, etc. Besides primary education, adult literacy the project will also help in enhancing income of the locals through micro-enterprise and vocational skills development.
Qazi Azmat Isa, the PPAF Task leader, World Bank Islamabad, PPAF Chief Executive Kamal Hayat, CUP Chief Executive Iftikhar-ur-Rahman, and social workers were present on the occasion.
On this occasion, Iftikhar-ur-Rahman said that CUP, PPAF, and communities of Sereh and Seri have felt the need for a community-based and managed primary health care system that had been included by the World Bank in its uplift agenda.
The projects that would take nine months in completion would help in changing the lot of nearly 1,500 people living in both villages, he added.
Women Community Organisation President Parveen Matloob said that safe drinking water was the serious problem of the villagers, who had to go to 1 km for it, which was great wastage of time and energy.
Because of poor sanitation and hygiene, the villagers fell easy prey to deadly diseases and then the lack of roads and hospital added to their hazards, she added.
Mulzam Hussain (50), a local resident, told Business Recorder that there was only one primary school for both boys and girls at a distance of 1 km from his village, however, the work on another school had been started, he added.
He, mason by profession, said most of the people were having the same profession though some people were also serving army in low ranks, he added.
He showed his satisfaction on the role of the PPAF for eradicating poverty, and said it had already constructed water reservoir, but Wapda had made some problem in electric supply.
Coming hard on the MNA Syed Nayar Bukhari of PPP, M. Saeed and Fahim said he had done nothing for their village in the last two years, and when realised that some strangers had started uplift project he also announced Rs 0.2 million for this programme.
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