TANDO Soomro is a village located in Sindh’s Tando Allahyar district with a population of 5,000. One might think that only the Soomro community lives there, as the name might indicate, but that is not the case. Soomro Khan was a well-known person of the village and after his demise people named the place Tando Soomro as a mark of respect.

People of this village on their own have modernised the village. Most villages in the country suffer owing to lack of development and resources. But this village is different. The locals have built a wall around the village for security. There are underground sewerage lines that are cleaned on a daily basis, and that alone may make people living in cosmopolitan Karachi envious, as gutters are seen overflowing in the pro­­­vi­n­cial capital. There are dustbins ev­e­­r­y­where across the village, and there are designated people who keep the village clean. There is a government school, a hospital and even a library. Each month the villagers contribute money to ensure school and library facilities for its young. There are even electric water coolers in both the school and the library. Going a step further, the villagers have raised funds to have computers installed in the library to help the students become computer-literate.

It all started in 1988 when the villagers formed an alliance which subsequently turned into a welfare trust. It was a time when robbery incidents were on the rise and people had started migrating to the cities. Those who did not have an option decided to fight the criminals. A few villagers lost their lives, but the menace of crime was eliminated.

Today, Tando Soomro is a model village in all respects. If people can get all this done on their own and with their own resources, one wonders what could have been done had the government done something as well.

Ahsanullah Mengal
Hub

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2022