Food distribution

Distribution of food and funds in Pakistan where one-fourth of population lives below the poverty line is a huge challenge, particularly now when Covid-19 has created a whole set of impediments. Here not only time is of the essence but who qualifies for the aid, who delivers it are some of the formidable challenges. Of course, SAPM Dr Sania Nishtar's plan in this regard makes some sense. She has the advantage of drawing on the experience of distribution of Benazir Income Support Programme. But that is not the case with plans both official and private. Given loss of jobs and work in the wake of Covid-19-driven lockdowns, tens of millions of households are fast running short of life-sustaining food. The question how to reach out to them has no easy answer. A few of the instances to illustrate how problematic it is merit mention. In Lahore on Sunday, a crowd invited to the Governor's House to collect ration and then told to reach their respective police stations ran amok. As a protest it blocked traffic on the Mall, the city's main thoroughfare. The same day in Hyderabad, a mob looted some 400 ration bags meant for distribution among daily-wage earners. According to the driver of the truck carrying the food bags, some gunmen told him to deliver the bags in their union committee. "After hijacking the vehicle to Hussainabad one of them shouted to invite people. Some men and women who were already present there attacked the vehicle and grabbed whatever they could," according to him. On March 30, a mob had looted goods from a vehicle before it could reach its destination. Similar incidents took place at some other places, including Sukkur. Earlier last week, the needy belonging to the Hindu community were denied food supplies, emanating a call from there to India's Prime Minister Modi to send food through Tharparkar checkpost. And this is just the beginning of the Covid-19-triggered fallout.
Pakistan is one of the world's most kind-hearted and generous polities. Also, there is a lot of logic in Prime Minister Khan's belief that given the abundance of "faith and youth" in Pakistan, delivering aid to the deserving should be no problem. His plan to recruit 'Tiger Force' has been stoutly rejected by all opposition parties. The government is accused of seeking to further its political agenda through this human misery. However, it would be crassly unfair to say that all of more than half a million youth, who have offered their services, are PTI workers. But in this case perception tends to outclass the reality. Moreover, the Punjab government has imposed ban on all kinds of philanthropic activities across the province. In other words, all the widely respected and trusted charity organisations and kind-hearted individuals have been asked to stay home, leaving this field to the 'Tiger Force'. That is not going to work because 'Tiger Force' will be looked upon as the PTI foot soldiers. The best bet in this endeavour would be to hand over this task to the newly-formed National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) that may use charity organisations already in the field or other means to organise the supply chains.