The Poor of Allai

Taj Mohammad happens to be one of the few men from Allai to have served in the military. I met him one evening in Banna (the Tehsil Headquarters of Allai, in District Batagram). Taj asked me to find a job for him in Rawalpindi. I asked him, why not in Allai where so many organizations are undertaking projects in the reconstruction and rehabilitation phase following the devestating earthquake of October 8, 2005. His answer was that he has three daughters who are of school going age and there is no provision for female education beyond 5th Class in Allai. The relatively well to do people have taken up alternate residences in Batagram or elsewhere and send their children to school there. The poor of Allai have no such choice.

The earthquake of 8th October that affected the wealthy and poor alike in the devastated areas has once again brought out the plight of the poor. While all suffered equally in the earthquake and its immediate aftermath, it is the poor man who is now once again getting a rough deal. Be it compensation or distribution of relief goods, shelters etc the underprivileged in the countryside of NWFP earthquake hit areas remain hostage to the machinations of the powerful.

In some cases the tenants have been refused permission by the landlord to construct a temporary shelter on the land on which their house stood prior to the earthquake. In many cases the owners are pocketing the initial compensation even though it related to the house built by the tenant. In most instances the tenants are reluctant to come forward with the cases of abuse by the land owners. They know that for now, with the presence of Army and NGOs in the area, the landlord may not react, but, sooner or later these agencies will leave and the powerful with the help of a pliant local administration will exact their revenge.

The poor of Allai mostly reside on heights. The influential have their homes close to the road head and at lower altitudes and hence a greater ability to get hold of relief and shelter material. Despite the best efforts of those involved in relief work, the system has somehow been unable to reach those living on heights as effectively as it has reached those who are close to the road head and towns.

Nearly a year after the earthquake, we are undertaking a massive program of reconstruction and rehabilitation. Will this program also address the problems that stem from the social order that helps the powerful abuse the poor? Will the reconstruction and rehabilitation program only benefit the rich and the influential? Are we going to let a unique opportunity to take some bold steps to prevent the poor (at least to an extent) from being exploited go waste?
While the Army has made its presence felt everywhere in providing relief, it is the NGOs that have executed the bulk of relief work. In an area where the religious leaders had passed edicts against the NGOs, these humanitarian organizations are now viewed in a different light altogether. They have earned the respect of the local population without exception. We must take advantage of the window of opportunity so gained to push through far reaching reforms in the social sector.

The people in Allai Valley as also elsewhere in the mountainous regions do not live in the classical villages that we see in more settled areas. Reconstructing individual dwellings as they existed prior to the earthquake will be a mammoth undertaking. For the landless and even for those who own land on the mountainside, we need to generate more choices in terms of residence and employment. Most of the poor cultivate their little terraced patches near their houses dotted all over the mountainside. They (mostly women and children) travel for hours to fetch water, reach a school, a hospital or to buy the basic necessities. Why not give them the choice of living in localities that have all these facilities besides electricity and the males travel to their terraced fields for work every day?

In terms of providing education, there is a need for a fresh approach altogether. Reconstructing Schools as they existed prior to the earthquake is a sure way of ensuring that the bulk of these schools will remain empty for the next few decades as well. Running a school successfully in a rural area will cost more as compared to running a similar school in a town. Those who are planning education programs need to allocate expenditures based on the location of the school, spread of the population and gender considerations and not necessarily the category of the school (middle, high etc). What are needed are educational institutions that have the necessary facilities to house the teaching and administrative staff that may mostly be from outside that area. In many cases a limited hostel facility for students coming from far away dwellings may be required. The staff has to be provided a lucrative monetary package or else the school will exist only as a structure. This program has to be enforced for a generation. This is necessary so as to eliminate the requirement of getting teachers from outside in the long term.

With so much money being made available for the rehabilitation phase, there is a need to spend a major part on developing the education network in rural areas. Perhaps a few model institutions in selected areas to begin with and then gradually expand the network. The establishment of these schools has to be followed with a sincere effort to make them a success. Unless we do that, the Taj Mohammads will continue to seek employment in big cities and towns and the poor of Allai will remain without choices.