IF anyone needs to learn how not to do it, they have only to look at Pakistan. Consider the manner in which outrage over the deaths in Tharparkar district has played out. The media only recently began to focus on the fact that food is in extremely scarce supply in parts of Sindh’s interior. The area had been hit by famine, it was revealed, and the situation was so bad that people were fleeing. The provincial and federal governments were roundly castigated. The furore finally sent officialdom scurrying to the spot, but while help was promised, it was nowhere near timely. Meanwhile, in political circles, it was another opportunity to score points when the PML-N’s Hamza Shahbaz Sharif accused the PPP-led provincial government of indulging in festivities while children were dying, provoking a barrage of resentment. In all this, what was lost was the fact that while there are severe food shortages in parts of the province, the reason people are dying has also much to do with the general extreme poverty, unemployment and lack of education.

Responsible for this is the state that has failed to focus on development of the area, as was noted on Tuesday at a Hyderabad news conference that called for the resignation of the Sindh chief minister and his cabinet. Further, the current drought is part of a well-known cycle that hits the region periodically — not that the state has noticed or taken any mitigating measures. And what had been viewed as a famine-related exodus is also part of a cycle of temporary migration for economic purposes that is undertaken by the people here. That said, the death or illness of people due to food scarcity in a country that believes itself to be an agriculture-based economy is absolutely shocking. As trucks carrying relief goods trundle into Tharparkar, the state needs reminding that while the situation here has reached extreme levels, the issues of lack of access to sufficient quantities of food, and malnutrition are growing, and need to be tackled through a long-term plan.In the immediate term, relief operations for Thar need to be expedited and the provincial and federal governments must make good on their promises. On Monday, the prime minister announced a Rs1bn relief package in this regard and officialdom at all levels has made all the right noises about investing in the development of the area. We hope that after this storm has been weathered, this resolve does not go the way of past promises. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, it is often forgotten that the government’s raison d’être is to serve the needs of the people. Nowhere is its lack of interest in doing so been apparent as it is in the present crisis.