PDI, Oxfam hold workshop on post-flood land issues

Participants of District Level Consultative workshop jointly organised by Participatory Development Initiatives (PDI) and Oxfam on "Post Flood Land Related issues with Women Land Grantees in Shikarpur District" urged the government to address the issues of poor women state land grantees especially forced occupation on their granted land after pre and post flood devastation in the district.
Participants of workshop said that civil society representatives lauded the Sindh government bold initiatives to distribute land especially among the poor women peasants and viewed that there was an urgent need of resolving their issues of litigation cases, forced evacuation of poor land grantees in the district Shikarpur. They said that powerful anti poor women elements are hatching conspiracy to fail one of the best ever programme of sitting government to empower poor landless Harris in rural areas of the Sindh who are since decades living their livelihood under poverty-line. They demanded from the government to ensure transparency in the said land distribution programme being launched by the government in Shikarpur district to distribute land among the poor women landless peasants. Hanifa state land grantees hailing from Shikarpur district said that government had allotted 4 acres in second phase of Sindh Government Women Land Distribution programme but after flood devastation she was shifted in Sukkur.
"How you dare to get land in my village a local wadera told me when I got state land and when I came to my village after post flood devastation local influential wadera occupied on my land" and later filed litigation case against my allotted land" she expressed. I urged the President Asif Ali Zardari and Syed Qaim Ali Shah to end occupation from my allotted land, she demanded in a workshop. Safia Abbasi, Aurat Foundation Co-ordinator and Zahida Kakepoto, civil society activist in the district, lauded the PDI and Oxfam providing platform to poor women in the district saying that it was need of hour that government should ensure that poor women land grantees should get their allotted land.-PR