( March 11, 2014, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka Guardian) A total of 193 deaths of children have been reported from the Thar district of Sindh province over the last three months. Though the governmental authorities are trying to attribute these deaths to different ailments, there is strong evidence that hunger, chronic shortage of water, extreme poverty and lack of health facilities are the real reason behind them. The situation is so grim that the Chief Minister of Sindh had to concede that 60 children have in fact died in the area during past two months but blamed the deaths on cold and mother-child health conditions. He also ordered the release of 60,000 bags of wheat (each of 100 kilo grams) from the official store for immediate distribution but asserted that the children did not perish to the famine conditions prevailing in the area. He has also declared a 200,000 Pakistani rupees (USD 1960) compensation for the bereaved families. It must be noted that until now only 2,000 bags of wheat have been distributed as against those totally released.
