S I B I

A District Profile

Bureau of Statistics Planning & Development Department

Planning Studies Section Government of Balochistan Quetta

DISTRICT AT A GLANCE

FOREWORD

PREFACE

SIBI DISTRICT

1. DISTRICT RESOURCES

2. DEMOGRAPHY AND HOUSING

3. SOCIAL ORGANISATION

4. GOVERNMENT ORGANISATION

5. PRODUCTIVE SECTORS

Agriculture/Horticulture

Livestock

Fisheries

Forestry

Mining

Industry and Trade

6. ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURE AND COMMUNICATIONS

7. SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

8. MISCELLANEOUS

10.DISTRICT IN COMPARISON TO ITS DIVISION

11. THE DIVISION IN COMPARISON TO BALOCHISTAN

12. CONCLUSIONS : POTENTIALS AND CONSTRAINTS

Annex I

  Rest of the Tables of Text

Annex II

  List of Villages in Sibi District

 Annex III

  List of Social Welfare Organisations in Sibi District

 Annex IV

  Functions of District Council

 Annex V

  Overview of Infrastructure per Union Council

District at a Glance

• District Headquarters. Sibi Date of Registration: 1903
• Area (Sq Km) 7,796
• Population: 1981 1995 (Projection)

51,000 48,000 99,000 143,589

• Sex Ratio: m/f 1.06
• Population density: 13(1981) 18(1995)
• Registration of voters:
• Major Ethnic Groups; Pathans, Jamoot, Baluch.
• Major Languages. Pashto, Sindhi, Baluchi.
• Climate: Arid with hot summer and mild winter
• Main Crops (1994):

• Major Livestock(1986):

• Economy: Farm sector (including agriculture livestock), off-farm paid employment, and business sector are mainstay of the district’s economy, with farm sector being the single largest commodity producing sector.
• Important Minerals: Coal
• Important Places: Fort Mir Chakar Khan, Nari Gauge, Jirga Hall
• Educational Facilities(1995):

• Pupils/teacher ratio: 19:01
• Health Facilities:

• Number of beds: 214
• Water supply (coverage) 35 percent
• Energy (sources) Rural Areas: Firewood for cooking, electricity and Kerosene for lighting:
• Urban Areas Gas/Kerosene /firewood for cooking, and electricity /gas /kerosene for lighting.
• Major Industries: Coal mining, Flour milling.
• Communications:

Since the publication of the Gazetteer in the early 1900’s, on district level no comprehensive data has been brought together for analysis and planning. The present profile of Sibi district attempts at that. Point of departure for this profile is to focus on the socio - economic development of the district and to include comparative statistics from divisional and provincial level. It provides overview of the district’s resources, portray its state of development, and highlights major development issues. Time and resource constraints prevented a more in - depth analysis of socio - economic situation. It is, however, hoped that this profile will serve as a good starting point to that end in future.

Several agencies and persons facilitated successful completion of this exercise. We owe gratitude to them, especially to the district’s ex-Deputy commissioners Mr. Maqbool Jan Oriya and Mr. Zawar Haider, and the present Deputy Commissioner Mr. Ijaz Ahmed Buzdar, without whose patronage and cooperation the profile’s completion wouldn’t have been possible.

Residents of Sibi district, whom I met in connection with this exercise, were always cooperative and helpful. I am equally indebted to them.

I am highly grateful to the district profile editorial board, led by Mr. Teun van Dijk, for valuable editorial advice; to officers of Planning Studies Section (PSS) for providing statistical assistance, and to Mr. Taskeen Akhtar, Administrator, IMPLAN, for facilitating my mobility and office assistance.

Lastly, but most importantly, I am especially thankful to Mr. Koen de Wilde, Chief Technical Advisor, IMPLAN Project, Planning & Development Department, Government of Balochistan, for giving me the opportunity of working on this project.

The onerous task of typing, fell on the shoulders of Mr. Tasneem Akhtar. He did it very well, and I owe my highest appreciation to him.

For all shortcomings only I am responsible.

Origin
Sibi district was established in October 1903 then covering the present districts of Sibi, Ziarat, Dera Bugti, Kohlu, and Nasirabad.

Name
The district is named after its headquarters, the town of Sibi, which in its turn derives its name from Siwi, a Hindu lady of Sewa race who is said to have ruled over this part of the country in former times.

Boundaries
The district borders on Ziarat district in the north, and in the north east on Loralai district. In the east and south east it borders on Kohlu district. To the south and south west lies Bolan district and in the north west it borders on Mastung district and Quetta district.

History of Colonial Administration
The British colonial influence started extending to Sibi region in the late forties of the 19th century, when in 1839, Misri Khan, the head of Panri tribe, tendered his services to Shah Shuja, and was taken into British service with a number of his followers, who were styled the "Baloch Levy. Subsequent events are a story of long and intense tribal wars that paved the way for ultimate annexation of the Sibi region to the British colonial empire. An entertaining account of the political events after Misri Khan's induction into British service is given in an old (undated) Gazetteer of Sibi; of which relevant excerpts are presented below:

"In March 1841, Mr. Ross Bell, the Political Agent in upper Sind, deputed one of his assistants with a detachment of troops, under the command of Colonel Wilson of the Bombay Cavalry, to collect the arrears of revenue due from Khajaks of Sibi on behalf of Shah Shuja. The detachment was accompanied by Misri Khan, and on the Khajaks refusing to comply with the demands, attacked the town, but were repulsed with heavy loss....... Reinforcements from Bagh were sent up under General Brooks. But before they could arrive the Khajaks abandoned their town, the defence of which were then demolished. The Khajaks were permitted to return during the following year and the town was rebuilt. From November 1841 to September 1842 an Assistant Political officer, resided at Sibi. When the British troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan on the termination of the war, the district was handed over by the British to the Khan of Kalat, but it does not appear to have been occupied by him, and in 1843 again came under the Baruzai rule ----. up to the second Afghan war Sibi continued to be held by the Baruzai chiefs as governors of the Afghan rulers; but owing to the constant raids and encroachments of the Marris, the country was, at the request of the Sardars and people, occupied at the commencement of the war by a detachment of troops from Jacobabad...... In November 1887 the Kach-Kowas and Harnai valleys, Sibi, Duki and Thal-Chotiali were declared parts of British India...... Owing to the disputes between the Zarkuns and the Marris, Kohlu was brought under the British protection and added to the Thal-Chotiali district in 1892. In February 1891 Sanjawi was again transferred to Thal-Chotiali, and Barkhan was added in April 1892. On reconstruction of the district in October 1903, the Barkhan, Duki and Sajawi tehsils were transferred to the new Loralai district, and the name of the Thal-Chotiali district was changed into that of Sibi district."

Post-Independence Period
The district underwent reorganization in the post-independence period to create Nasirabad division, Dera Bugti district, Kohlu district and Ziarat district. Following the post-1947 administrative re-organisation, the district's territorial jurisdiction has shrunk from 11,390 sq. miles as it was in 1903, to 7.796 sq. miles. The old description of it being a district covering vast and varied climatological zones, as it once was, is no longer true.

Important Places/Buildings

Important places/buildings are:

1. Fort Mir Chakar Khan.

2. Victoria Hall built in 1903; now named Jirga Hall.

3. Nari Gauge; from where the Nari canal takes off.

4. Sohbat Sarai (Inn).

5. Sibi Stadium, the venue of the famous Sibi week.

1. DISTRICT RESOURCES
Sibi district sprawls over an area of 833,128 hectares out of which only 160,000 hectares are classified as "area reported". Arable land constitutes 10 percent of the geographical area and 53 percent of the "reported area".

Table 1.1

Land Resources of Sibi District
 

Particulars	Area (Ha)	Percent of total District area
Total Geographical area	833,128	100.00
Area not reported	673,128	80.80
Area Reported	160,000	19.20
Not available for cultivation	22,531	2.70
Area under Forest	37,206	4.47
Area under permanent pasture	3,560	0.43
Cultivable waste	11,387	1.37
Area under water logging/salinity	--	--
Arable land	85,316	10.24
Potential area available for cultivation	85,316

Source: Agricultural Statistics of Balochistan, 1994 - 95

There is discrepancy in the total geographical area (833,128 hectares) of the district reported in the Agricultural Statistics and the area reported in Population Statistics (779,600). The reasons for this discrepancy could not be ascertained. In all probability, the geographical area shown in the Agricultural Statistics is overreported. It seems to include some area of the districts which were previously Sibi district's parts.

The area 'not reported' is a good 81 percent of the district's total area. This area is largely mountainous and inaccessible, because of which it could not be surveyed. The area ('not reported') is, however, not entirely uninhabited or barren. There are a number of small villages in the far lying mountains, where people live in small settlements as farmers and livestock owners. These areas are largely under the control of Marri Sardars, and are still detached from the district's mainstream of socio-economic development.

1.2 Topography
The district lies from 29°-19° to 30° to 36' north latitudes and 67° - 12' to 68° - 34' east longitudes. More than half of the district is mountainous. The Zarghun range separates it from Quetta district. The main valley is the Harnai valley which extends from the Chapter mountain to Spintangi. North of the Harnai valley, the highest peak is Khalifat which is 3,486 meters high. The hills of Brahvi range appear in the form of parallel ridges with narrow valleys in their midst. The plain area of Sibi district mostly falls in Sibi tehsil. No portion of the plain is higher than 150 meters above sea level".

1.3 Climate
A major part of the district is low lying and falls in the agriculture-ecological zone-I (sea to 625 m. above sea level) Part of it, the Harnai Tehsil area, lies 2,500 m. above sea level.

The district is one of the hottest areas of the (Indo-Pak) sub-continent. The average rainfall and temperature recorded at Sibi meteorological station from 1992 till 1995 are given in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2

Average Temperature and Rainfall Sibi Meteorological station

Year	Annual Mean of Temperature (centigrade)		Rainfall
	max	min	mm	inch
1992	34.3		321.9	11.68
1993	35.6	21.0	177.1	6.98
1994	34.3	19.4	316.6	12.66
1995	34.7	19.0	191.7	7.67

 

1.5 Minerals
Presently only coal is extracted. There are two coal mines which in average have an annual extraction of approximately 40,000 tonnes (1990-95). Occurrences of no other mineral has been reported.

1.6 Vegetation
Important vegetation in the district consists of acacia, wild ash, wild berries and wild shrubs of various kinds.

1.7 Energy
In Sibi town, gas is the principal source of energy for cooking. Part of the town, and the entire rural population, depends mainly on fuel wood for cooking. Use of kerosene stoves and gas cylinders is reported, but is very scarce.

Electricity is the principal source of energy for lighting in the urban centres. The same holds true for the bulk of the rural population. The number of legal electricity connections is not a correct indicator of electricity as a source of energy. It is a common practice in the urban centres, that several households draw electricity from a single connection, and share the cost. Many households in urban area secure connections illegally. In rural areas this is done on an even wider scale.

1.8 Environment
The district is facing growing problems of green pollution, i.e. environmental degradation due to deforestation. Much of the forest area lies denuded of trees and shrubs. The threat of outright disaster in this respect has subsided to a certain extent after Sibi town was supplied with gas, but the overall situation is still unsatisfactory.

The problem of grey pollution, caused by garbage, is getting more and more serious. It is particularly acute in Sibi town, which has more than 1/4th of the district's population. The Sibi Municipality has a small number of sanitation workers and a few garbage carriers which is not considered adequate to cope with the task involved. The situation is worsening fast, also because of haphazard construction and the widely alleged inactivity of the sanitation staff.

1.9 Conclusion and major Development Issues

The arable land resource base of the district is small, and due to increase in population the arable land/man ratio is getting worse with every passing year. The problem is worsened by low rainfall and limited availability of canal water, due to which much of the arable land has to be kept fallow.

Another major threat is posed by the deforestation problem. Beside economic, it has serious environmental implications. On the whole, the district's land resource base is too small, in quantitative as well as qualitative terms, to meet the challenges posed by the growing population. The major issues that need to be placed high on the development agenda are:

1. Increasing the arable land and cropping intensity.
2. Preventing deforestation and undertaking reforestation on a large scale.
3. Enlarging the off-farm employment base of the district so as to reduce pressure on the farm sector.

2.1 Population

Sibi is a thinly populated district, like the rest of Balochistan province, as indicated by its population density of 13 persons per km in 1981, and the corresponding estimated figure of 18 in 1995. Some selected demographic data of the district are presented in table 2.1.

Table 2.1

DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF SIBI DISTRICT:

SUMMARY STATISTICS

2.1.1 Population Growth Pattern

The average annual population growth rate in this district is estimated to be 2.8 percent over the last 14 years, as against the corresponding Balochistan average of 3.1 percent. The district receives seasonal migrants, every year, for about 4 - 5 months (October - March). Their number is approximately 25 - 30 thousand. No large-scale permanent in or out migration is reported to have taken place during 1981 - 95.

2.1.2 Population Composition

In the 1981 census of population, 51,000 males and 48,000 females were enumerated in the district. Thus females accounted for about 48.50 percent of the total population. The male/female ratio was 1.06, i.e. 106 males per 100 females.

2.1.3 Household Size

A household, as defined in the population census, comprises persons living together and eating from the same kitchen and using the same budget, whether or not related to each other. According to the 1981 census, a household in Sibi District had on average 7.30 members. Although the district's population increased by 41 percent during 1981-95, the average household size in 1995 would not necessarily be higher. A large number of dwelling units have been constructed in the district during 1981-95, and numerous old houses have been expanded. This has facilitated the trend towards a more nuclear family system. Consequently, using the census definition of a household, the household size is declining. However, it does not give any indication that people have less children than in the past.

In 1990, the average size of households was 8.2 for the district as a whole, according to the Census of Agriculture (1990). The corresponding figure for different categories of households are: farm households 9.9, livestock owner household 8.0, and non-agricultural households 7.1. The 1990 Census of Agriculture data seems to support the above mentioned contention regarding growth of household size. That is, its growth rate has been less than that of the population in general. As suggested by the Agriculture Census data, and as gathered from interviews with informed persons, the existing average household size would be around eight persons.

2.1.4 Dependent Population

No clear-cut definition of 'dependent population' is available. An idea as to its size can, however, be formed on the basis of data pertaining to marital status, male/female ratio, population 'below-15 years and above-60 years of age' and civilian labour force (persons working and looking for work). According to the 1981 population census; 24 percent of the population over 15 years of age was married; the m/f ratio was 1.06; the population below 15 years and above 60 years was 46 percent; and the civilian labour force accounted for 29 percent of total population. This means that in 1981, almost 70 percent of the district population would be classified as 'dependent'. The 1995 situation is believed to be not very different.

2.1.5 Rural-Urban Dimensions

According to the 1981 population census, Sibi district's urban population was 27,845 in that year which accounted for 28.13 percent of the total population (of 99,000). As ascertained from Sibi town's growth trend, as also that of Harnai town's, and as gathered from discussions on rural-urban migration trends in post-1981 period, it appears safe to conclude that the district's urban population's growth rate would be twice as much as the district's overall population growth rate (2.8 percent), meaning that in the post-1981 period, the urban population most probably increased at about 5 percent per annum. In order to guard against any overestimation, a 4 percent growth rate (of urban population) appears to be safe and realistic. On this assumption, the 1995 urban population of the district would close to 50,000, accounting for 34.5 percent of the district's total population in that year.

2.1.6 Spatial Dimensions

The rural population, accounting for an estimated 65 percent of the district's population, lives in two hundred rural settlements with population ranging from 200 to 6000 persons. Most of the villages have population exceeding 400 persons and there are 38 villages with population totalling one thousand or more. Most of the medium and large size villages are situated close to roads and at convenient distance from Sibi town and Harnai town.

2.1.7 Ethnic Groups

The major ethnic groups are the Pathan, the Jamoot and the Baloch. They speak Pashtoo, Sindhi and Balochi respectively as mother tongue. Among the Jamoots are also included Saraiki speaking persons. On the basis of the 1981 Census data, it is estimated that these groups' share in total population would be: Pathans 39 percent, Jamoots 30 percent, Baluchi 18 percent. Rest of the 13 percent population includes Punjabi, Brahvi and Hindus. There are a number of tribes in the district. The recognised tribes are listed as follows:

Tehsil Sibi:
 

1. Marghazani	2. Khajjak	3. Barozai
4. Kurak	5. Safi	6. Usmani
7. Ghulam Baloch	8. Naudhani	9. Luni
10. Puz	11. Mandwani	12. Dehpal
13. Silachi	14. Machi	15. Chandio
16. Gohramzai	17. Hara	18. Gola
19. Gorgage	20. Khorata	21. Gishkori
22. Hambi	23. Langhani Marri	24. Zadoon
25. Masakhel	26. Sayad	27. Lon
28. Saudi	29. Ali Khel	30. Pahi
31. Chachar

Sub-Tehsil Kutmundai

No authentic indicators of nature and extent of migration are available for the Sibi district. However, as gathered from interviews with informed local people, the district has been experiencing in-migration, out-migration, seasonal immigration and emigration on varying scales during the last fifty years or so. On the whole, it appears from the observed trends that the in-migrants outnumber the out-migrants. Emigration has considerably slowed down, while the number of seasonal in-migrants' is larger than before. These four kinds of migrations are briefly described as follows.

In-migration: The major in-migration took place around 1947, in the wake of partition of the sub-continent resulting in an influx of refugees from India. Beside India, many people of Punjab origin took up jobs in government offices in Sibi area at about the same time. What may be called the 'influx ' of migrants was confined to the early post-independence period. In-migration, mostly of a temporary character, is continuing, but the scale is not large. The in-migrants are mostly labourers employed in construction projects, artisans, and traders. The latter two types are permanent or long-term migrants and most of them live here with their families, mostly in Sibi town. The labourers working for contractors are to be classified as temporary migrants.

Seasonal Immigrants: A large number of persons come to the district around October/ November, mainly from Ziarat, and Mastung. They leave the district in March/April.

Out-migration: Not much out-migration is taking place presently. In the seventies, however, a large number of persons migrated to Quetta, Sukkar, Karachi and other places in and outside Balochistan. They are now settled there permanently. Presently, out-migration is continuing but on a very small scale. Most of the out-migrants go to Quetta, and most of them are educated young people.

Emigration has taken place, but not in a large number. Major exodus took place in the seventies, and many of the emigrants are now back home.

2.2 Labour force

No recent reliable and complete profile of the district's labour force is available. The information as available is presented below, followed by observations on the probable size and composition of Sibi's labour force.

According to the labour survey conducted in 1993-94 by the Directorate of Labour of the Government of Balochistan, 6,367 workers were reported to be employed in industrial and commercial establishments in the Sibi district.

The 1993-94 survey obviously underreported the number of industrial and commercial establishments, as well as that of the workers. The survey also did not cover the informal sector - vendors, rehris (shops on carts), stalls, cottage industry units, animal pulled passenger and goods carriers (tongas, donkey carts, rehras etc) etc. The informal sector is growing fast, and the number of wage workers per enterprise is also on the rise, particularly in the case of child labour. These factors, a survey of the Sibi town's commercial area, and reports of informed persons suggest that the size of the labour force in the private sector in 1995 would be more than twice as large as enumerated in 1993 - 94. Moreover, there is women's labour which remains invisible, because it is most of the time unpaid. But women are very much involved in different activities from morning till evening.

2.3 Housing

2.3.1 Tenure

Almost the entire rural population lives in houses they own themselves. In 1990, this category accounted for 98 percent of total farm households, according to the Census of Agriculture of 1990. The rest of the farm households lived in "rented / other houses". This category consists chiefly of rent free houses provided by land owners to their tenants and of the houses of near relations of occupiers. The 1990 Census of Agriculture data holds valid also for the current situation, as no material change in tenure pattern in rural areas is reported in the post 1990 period.

In urban areas too, the majority of households live in their own houses. The non-agricultural households covered by the 1990 Census of Agriculture, serve as a good proxy. Some 61 percent of this class of households lived in their own houses in 1990, and the 1995 situation is not likely to be much different.

2.3.2 Construction Material

Most of the houses are "kacha" i.e.; made of mud. As indicated by the 1990 census of agriculture and visits to different parts of the district for preparation of this District Profile, about 90 percent of the rural houses and 60 - 65 percent of the urban houses are kacha.

2.3.3 Source of Energy

Cooking: In Sibi town, gas is the principal source of energy for cooking, while in the rest of the district firewood and brush wood are used.

Lighting: Electricity is the chief source of lighting in Sibi town and Harnai town and the rural areas within ten miles radius of these towns. Around fifty percent of the district's population uses electricity for lighting. In Sibi town, gas lamps are also used when electricity is off. In other places, where electricity and gas lamps are not available, lanterns are used for lighting.

2.3.4 Housing Characteristics

Houses are mostly kacha, as discussed before. The average size of a house in rural areas is 800 square metres. Most houses have one big room of rectangular shape, with partitions. All houses have large front and back courtyards. All houses have a guest room outside. The kitchen is mostly an open space in the house, known as "bhabi", with a hatched roof only.

2.3.5 Drinking water and sanitation

Clean drinking water is available to nearly 40 percent of the population. A small number of houses have piped water connections inside. Where there are no water supply schemes of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), people use hand pumps, wells, streams and ponds. In many places men and animals drink from the same source.

In rural areas, pit-latrines are built inside the house for women and children. Men use the fields. In urban centres, most houses have a flush system. The old type latrines are also in use in urban centres.

For disposal of waste water, proper drains exist in Sibi town and Harnai town. In rural areas, drainage systems are non-existent. People have built pits outside their houses to dump waste water.

2.4 Conclusion and Major Development Issues

The district is experiencing an increase in population at a rate lower than that of the province. This is not a reason for complacency, as the district's arable land base is small and cannot absorb even the small incremental labour force entering the labour market every year.

The dependency ratio is 70 percent, i.e. there are 30 earners per 100 persons. This is a high dependency ratio by any standard, and a cause for concern in view of low income.

Rural - urban migration is increasing,. This is a positive development, as increased rural - urban linkages will help transform the rural areas. The arrival of several thousands of seasonal migrants to Sibi every year brings in its wake benefits as well as problems to the area. The problems emerge in the form of displacement of local labour, pressure on civic services, overcrowding, etc.

The overall state of development of civic facilities, energy, housing, etc is not good. These aspects need be given high priority.

3. Social Organisation

3.1 Introduction

The major ethnic groups in the district are the Pathans, the Jamoots and the Balochi, who between them account for around 87 percent of the district's total population. The remaining thirteen percent consists of non-Muslims (mostly Hindus), migrants from India (mostly Urdu speaking), other ethnic groups of Balochistan, and settlers (mostly Punjabis).

Mode of Living: About 65 percent of the district's population lives in rural areas, and the rest in Sibi town and Harnai town. The rural population lives in conglomerates (villages), big and small. The preferred mode is to live in big villages for reason of security and ease of access to amenities such as water, education, communication, health facilities, marketing facilities etc.

In rural areas, kinship and tribal aspects in the mode of living are still preserved and firmly guarded by the major ethnic groups. For example, the seasonal migrants who come to Sibi during September/October are allowed to set up huts mostly outside the villages. No rent is charged. Nor is the land sold to them. When land is sold, it is as a rule sold to another member of the clan or tribe. Within a village, the joint family system of living is clearly manifested in the housing pattern. The general pattern is that several households, sometimes as much as a dozen, live in separate houses constructed close to each other, and enclosed by a common boundary/protective wall, with a common entrance. It is a fortress-like settlement. The more prosperous people live in "havelee", i.e. mansions accommodating several households of a clan, but this way of living is declining. The havelees that exist are old.

Major source of Income: Agriculture is the single largest source of income of the district's population taken in general and also of its major ethnic groups considered individually. The other major sources are off-farm employment and trade. There are, however, some differences between the ethnic groups and between the localities in the district, as briefly described below.

Baloch derive the bulk of their living from farming, livestock raising, wage employment, and self-employment (informal sector). The chief sources of the latter category are: vehicles operating for goods /passengers, donkey carts, camels and camel carts, and petty trading on carts, foot paths, street corners' etc. These sources of self-employment are still minor sources of Baloch income, but are rapidly growing in importance.

Pathans' major sources are largely the same as of the Baloch, but the difference in their relative contribution to their total income is less sharp as compared to the Baloch. Agriculture is their major source of income, but unlike Baloch; self-employment (trading) occupies the second position followed by wage employment.

Jamoots derive the bulk of their income from business, agriculture and wage employment, in that order.

Food habits of the Baloch, Pathans, and Jamoots are more or less similar in so far as the common people are concerned. The income levels and exposure to urban influences, rather than the ethnicity factor, seem to influence the difference in food habits and composition.

The times of the meals are: morning (for breakfast), midday (for lunch, the major meal), evening (for tea), and after sunset (for dinner, the second major meal). Late morning tea is regularly had in urban areas and by the relatively well off people in rural areas. Visitors are invariably served hot/cold drinks and snacks. The diet of commoners and the average middle class is more or less as shown below.

• Breakfast: Roti (bread) with tea; the children are given locally made biscuits, too.
• Lunch and Dinner The most common items are roti, dal (pulses)

• Evening Tea Adults have tea only, while children take

All meals are freshly cooked. In the summer season, the temperature is so high that the curry gets stale within an hour or so after it is cooked. For that reason meals have to be prepared afresh at each mealtime. Although the factor of heat is absent in the winter season, every meal is prepared afresh as a matter of habit, as people are used to freshly made bread and curry at each meal time. Usually all family members, who are at home at mealtime, eat together. The meal is arranged on a chaddar (blanket) spread on the floor.

3.2 The Family

In rural areas, the joint family system preponderates. In urban areas, the nuclear family system is dominant. A joint family consists of husband, wife, sons, unmarried daughters, families of married sons, parents of husband and unmarried brothers and sisters of husband. While a nuclear family consists of husband, wife, and their unmarried children. There is a slow but a definite drift in favour of the nuclear family system. Contributing factors are, a general improvement in the economic condition, rural-urban migration, increase in population, and construction of new houses away from the old family houses (havelees) in the villages.

3.3 Marriage

The old customs and traditions with respect to marriage, bride price, inheritance right of women, and the general status of women still hold strong. In these respects, rural Sibi is still as it was centuries ago.

Urban influences have produced positive impacts in these respects on all major ethnic groups, Pathans, Balochis and Jamoots, but these are not very perceptible as these groups still maintain close rural connections. However, the new generation - those born after Independence in 1947 - looks down upon these customs, particularly the vulvar system.

The centuries old institution of vulvar is still in practice among the major ethnic groups of the district. It is, however, falling into disfavour among the younger generation, especially the educated ones. While the educated ones, whether poor or well off, oppose it on moral grounds, the poor uneducated oppose it mainly for financial reasons, as they cannot afford to pay the demanded vulvar.

Most of the reported rates of vulvar fall within the range of Rs. 50,000 - 150,000. The rate is determined by a number of factors. It is relatively low, when the marriage takes place within the clan or near relatives. The amount is higher if the two families are from different tribes. Among the other determinants are the girl's age, her beauty and her personal qualities.

The Baloch mostly use the vulvar money to supplement their own sources for the expenses of their daughter's marriage. The daughter is given clothes, household goods, ornaments, etc., which she brings to her husband's home.

It is, however, different with the Pathans. The vulvar money is mostly kept by the parents, and all marriage expenses are borne by the bridegroom. The bride takes with her only what she is given for her marriage, which usually is not much.

Generally speaking, parents arrange the marriages of their children. Only exceptionally, a man (mostly of advanced age or/and rich) chooses the girl he wants to marry himself. The marriage proposal is, in all cases, communicated by the parents. The boy and the girl are not to meet before marriage. While the consent of the boy may be ascertained, that of the girl is generally not. The boy's female family members are closely involved in the decision. The father has the final say in choice of the family his daughter will marry into, but as a rule, here too, the mother's views are taken into consideration.

3.4 Social Organisation

In respect of social organisation in rural Sibi, the three major ethnic groups exhibit different characteristics. One thing is, however, common among the three groups, namely the high propensity for group living, group action when confronted with an alien entity, and a sense of separate ethnic entity which all of them guard jealously. The emergence of the Jamoots movement is a clear manifestations of this characteristic. A brief description of the social organisation is as follows.

Baloch: The Baloch are still faithfully adhering to the sardari system, which is rather authoritarian. The decision making process is of a bottom-up type, but it is heavily influenced by the Sardar's (chief's) views. The Sardars should incorporate the most commonly expressed views in their schemes, but they do not necessarily do that. Tribesmen follow their decisions, even if these may not be entirely consistent with their own perception of needs and priorities.

Pathans: The Pathans have strong preference for independent existence. They prefer to have direct contact with the state authorities. The traditional jirga still commands respect and status in their social system, but it is steadily losing influence.

Jamoots: This ethnic group is still largely subservient to Baloch and Pathans. But it is emerging as a distinct and powerful group with separate leadership. It is more progressive than the other two and carries characteristics of both.

3.5 Customs of Co-operation

In rural areas, the traditional institution of communal cooperation in socio-economic spheres is still in practice among all ethnic groups, but not as much as half a century ago. It is also found in the urban settlements Sibi town and Harnai town, where a number of social welfare organisations are in operation. In the rural areas, there are no formal community based organisations. Instead, communal cooperation is linked to specific occasions or situations, and when these arise, the community becomes active. The most well-known occasions are harvesting of crops, marriage and irrigation management. In the urban centres, there are formal organisations oriented to specific purposes, such as emergency medical aid, education and other socio-economic issues. Among instances of communal cooperation, collective harvesting of crops is perhaps one of the oldest traditions.

Harvesting of Crops: Hasher, or use of communal labour for harvesting, is an age- old institution in the district as it is all over the province. Under this custom, the farmer who needs help to harvest his crop, invites fellow villagers to help him. He does not pay them, but has to provide food. However, the custom is now on the decline, because most farmers are able to provide enough men for the work in their own households and more particularly, because of availability of mechanical thrashers, which are time as well as cost saving. Hasher labour must be served with the best of food, and that can turn out to be more expensive than renting a thrasher. Moreover family labour can cope with harvesting.

Marriage: The nature and extent of communal cooperation on the occasion of marriage varies from tribe to tribe. The common element in all these customs is to facilitate the bridegroom's marriage feast arrangement and to give gifts to the bridegroom. The gift may take the form of cash or animals. In some cases, donation is raised for the bridegroom; in local terminology it is called phoori.

Gifts in cash and kind in some cases meet a substantial part of the feast expenses. Thus, in a way, the bridegroom's marriage feast is a sort of communal function. The recipient of gifts, in cash or in kind, is supposed to reciprocate the goodwill when there is marriage in the family from where the gift is received. There are tribes where the bridegroom is presented cash after the feast. The amount is duly recorded as soon as it is received. The custom demands that, whenever a male from the gift making family is married, the gift receiver must give a gift in cash equal to or more than that received by him on his marriage from that family.

Assistance in cash is usually provided to the needy on the occasion of marriage or funeral.

Irrigation Management: Construction and cleaning of water courses is the community's responsibility. All beneficiaries of an irrigation system are supposed to participate in this activity or pay for substitute labour.

Labour support is provided, on request, by the community for house construction. This is not very common, though.

Tribal vendetta: One of the age-old institutions of communal cooperation, still persisting in undiminished force, is that of helping and protecting the members of one's tribe against the threats to lives from another. When members of two tribes fight, it becomes a tribal conflict and the target is any member of the opponent tribe, until the conflict is settled.

3.6 Religious Beliefs

Islam is the religion of all but a small percentage of the district's population. Among the Muslims almost all subscribe to the Sunni faith.

The Pathans are more religious as compared to the other major ethnic groups. They strictly practice the religious teachings with respect to daily prayers, fasting, acquisition of knowledge of the Holy Quran, etc. In the on-going Tableghi drive (preaching of Islam), they are prominent participants.

The Baloch are also believers in Islam, but they are not as devout as the Pathans. The younger Baloch are, however, more religious-minded than the older generation. Similarly the young and the old Baloch of today, taken as a whole, follow the Islamic teachings more widely and strictly than their forefathers. Their overall response to the movement for the revival of Islam has gone on for the last two decades or so. Nowadays, they are practising Muslims on a far larger scale then half a century ago.

3.7 Conflict Resolution

Conflicts between different tribes and also between members of the same tribe are usually resolved in traditional ways, by invoking the intervention of the elders within a clan, the jirga, mairah, etc. Resort to Qazi and civil courts is made exceptionally.

3.8 Arms

All ethnic groups keep arms of various types: pistol, rifle, shotgun etc. Arms are not openly carried, as it is prohibited by law prohibits.

3.9 Role, position and status of women

Women of the major ethnic groups are heavily burdened with household work and are active participants in several farming operations. In the ordinary business of life, they have little or no role in decision-making. Their mobility is restricted to the four walls of the house. They can only go outside the house under strict guard of men. They do not have a right to inheritance. Even in such a vital matter as marriage, their consent is not considered necessary. Society is highly male dominated. In fact, the very concept of the women having any decision-making role, position, or status is quite alien to Pathan and Baloch society. Jamoots are a bit more liberal.

Women belonging to minor ethnic groups, who are mostly settled in urban centres, find themselves in a much better position. As compared to women in general in the district, their mobility is less restricted, they have greater access to education and they participate more widely and freely in the family's socio-economic management than their rural counterparts. In all ethnic groups, women of relatively well educated families enjoy a better status than women in general. In the matter of right to inheritance, all women are treated alike; that is none has a right to inheritance.

3.10 Apprenticeship and Child Labour

Child labour is widespread in the district. The artisans, including carpenters, blacksmiths, mechanics, barbers and tailors, employ children and adolescents as apprentices. They are nominally paid and the period of apprenticeship may stretch from two to four or five years. Every shop of artisans has at least one apprentice, while most have two or more.

Children also work in brick making. They are not employed by the brick kilns owners., but come along with their fathers, who work on contract, to assist them-

Boys aged 8 to 16 are employed on a full time basis in most commercial establishments found in the district. They are paid Rs. 40 - 50 per day. Boys of this age group are also seen carrying on petty trades of their own, selling sweets, ganderee, fruits, cigarettes, etc. Besides, this age group is an active participant in the family business.

4. Government Organisation

4.1 Administrative Division

Sibi district was established in 1903, as also stated earlier. It was split to create Nasirabad and Kohlu districts in 1974, Dera Bugti district in 1983, and Ziarat district in 1986. The district has two sub-divisions, Sibi and Harnai, which are further organised into tehsils and sub-tehsils as shown below:

• Sibi Sibi Sibi
• Harnai Harnai
• Harnai
• Kutmandi
• Sangan

Before 1947 the local government system in Sibi district was governed by the Bazar Regulations introduced in 1910 by the British Government. The members of local bodies were nominated members and they were administrated by deputy commissioners. During 1947-58, local bodies stayed inactive in Sibi district, like in the rest of the Province. Local bodies were reactivated in 1958 with the introduction of the Basic Democracies system, as laid down in the Basic Democracies Order of 1959, issued by the martial law regime of General Mohammad Ayub Khan. The Basic Democracies system had four tiers. These were 1) union council, tehsil council, district council, divisional council, in the case of rural areas, and 2) town committee, municipal committee, district council, and divisional council in the case of urban areas.

The Basic Democracies system was amended and superseded by the present system introduced with the Balochistan Local Government Ordinance of 1980. It is a two - tier system comprising union councils and district councils for rural areas, and town committees/ municipal committees and district council for urban areas; see Annex 4.

Sibi district has one district council, 13 union councils, one town committee, and one municipal committee. Membership of union council is by election, through universal adult franchise. The same applies to town committee and municipal committee. The members of the district council are drawn from the elected members of union councils. The elected chairmen of town committee and municipal committee are ex-officio members of the district council.

4.3 Local Government Administration

Local government administration in the district has two major components:

As stated above, chairmen and members of the union councils, town committee, and municipal committee are elected representatives. The Chief Officer and secretaries are government employees, while the local bodies may employ staff from their own resources and grants received from the government.

Functions to be performed by local bodies are laid down in the Balochistan Local Government Ordinance, 1980. The list is quite long and includes most things that need to be done to improve the quality of life and selectively contribute to socio-economic development. The major concerns of local bodies, as listed in the 1980 Ordinance are; agriculture development, economic welfare, cultural activities, education, livestock and dairy development, public health, public safety, public works, and rural development.

The functions actually performed are, however, not as extensive as the might suggest. The local bodies' main involvement is with water supply, sanitation and public safety (fire fighting). Only the municipal committee of Sibi is also engaged in street/path improvement and cultural activities. The overall performance of local government bodies is not satisfactory, chiefly due to lack of finance.

Infuential persons in the villages or urban centres do not seem to openly involved in the decision-making process at the lower tiers of the government system. Their views, however, matter most in shaping the ultimate decisions made at lower tier. Still, in asserting their views these influential people do take the commoners’ views into consideration.

4.3.1 Union Council

The union council is the lowest tier in the local government system. The district has 13 union councils, seven in Sibi tehsil, and six in Harnai tehsil. Only one union council has its own source of income (octroi, etc) besides government grants. All others depend on government grants only, which are meagre and irregular. They have no development program of their own, nor funds for this purpose. However, they perform a role in attracting government’s attention to local development problems by communicating these to the appropriate forum. They also supervise the execution of development projects of the Local Government Rural Development Department (LGRDD) within their respective jurisdiction.

According to the district council, a total of 90 development projects were completed in the jurisdiction of the district’s thirteen union councils in the period 1991-95. These projects included nullah (drains for irrigation) improvement, digging of wells and construction of tanks for drinking water, toilet construction, construction of shingle roads, street pavement, construction of "bunds" (protection walls) for control of land erosion and the construction of union council offices. These projects were financed by LGRDD, but the union councils played an important role at various stages of these projects. According to data provided by the union councils, these projects were completed at a total cost of Rs 2.63 millions. All of the union councils secretaries have complained of funding problems because of which they cannot play their assigned role. However, despite this problem, the union councils are not entirely dormant, as indicated by the list of LGRDD schemes completed during 1991-95 in rural areas. Union councils do play an important role in rural uplift, by mobilising the concerned agencies to that end. Strengthening them financially can improve their performance.

4.3.2 Town Committee

The district has one town committee, at Harnai tehsil headquarters. Officially it has to perform a range of functions, but in actual fact, it does not take care of most of these. The committee has its own sources of income and also receives government grants. The committee has a chairman and elected members. It has full time paid staff.

4.3.3 Municipal Committee

Sibi M.C. is the only one municipal committee in the district. It was established in 1975. Its average annual income over the period from 1991-92 to 1995-96 was Rs. 6.5 million. The income over 1995-96 was; Rs 7.5 million. The chief source of income is octroi, which accounted for almost 90 percent of total income in 1995-96. The Municipal Committee used to receive an annual grant of Rs. 700,000 from the provincial government, but it has not received it since 1993-94. Like the town committee, the municipal committee has a wide range of functions it is responsible for, but in actual fact its activities are confined to a few tasks, including sanitation, street/path improvement, fire fighting and water supply.

4.3.4 District Council

The Sibi district council's office is located at Sibi town. Its jurisdiction extends to all areas under the district’s union councils, i.e. all rural areas of Sibi district. Its members are drawn from rural and urban local bodies, as described earlier in this chapter. Officially assigned functions of the district council are given in detail in Annex 4. Its actual activities are far fewer. Its only source of income is the zila (district) tax.

The district council plays an important role as a medium between the union council and the district, divisional and provincial administration and as a venue where the different union councils representatives meet.

4.4 Federal/Provincial Government Administration

Sibi town is the headquarters of Sibi district and also of Sibi Division (comprising Sibi district, Ziarat District, Dera Bugti district and Kohlu district). It has also government offices controlled at provincial and federal level. Besides, several autonomous bodies have their offices in the district.

In the district's administration, the central position is held by the Deputy Commissioner. He is the head of the revenue administration and overall coordinating head of all provincial government offices located in the district. His authority in fact extends to all state establishments which he can mobilise to carry out his functions as head of the district's administration. He is responsible for revenue collection, is custodian of law and order as well as of private and public property. He is a major medium of communication between local bodies and government bodies at district and divisional level. As such, and also as he is chairman of the district development coordinating committee (though now dormant) and member of the divisional development coordinating committee, he is in a position to play an important role in the socio-economic development of the district. His effectiveness in this sphere of activity has, however, been adversely affected by the governmental policy with regard to allocation of development grants to MPAs, MNAs and senators and by the development schemes approval procedure. In this latter respect, the Deputy Commissioner's recommendation is neither sought nor given due weight, with the result that development grants to the district's MPAs, MNAs and senators have just been frittered away in the recent past. Also, the line departments bypass the district administration while identifying development schemes.

4.5 Maintenance of Law and Order

Maintenance of law and order falls under the jurisdiction of the Deputy Commissioner and carried out through the district's police force, headed by a Senior Superintendent of police. The Police hierarchy at district level comprises:

• Senior Superintendent Police (SSP)
• Superintendent Police (SP)
• Deputy Superintendent Police (DSP)
• Inspectors
• Sub - Inspectors
• Assistant Sub-Inspectors
• Head Constables
• Constables

4.6 Revenue Administration

The provincial government's revenue administration is headed by the Deputy Commissioner. The local government institutions are involved for the revenue to be collected in the area under their jurisdiction. Provincial and federal level agencies also collect revenue on district level.
 

Actors / Taxes	Union Council	Town/ Municipal Comm.	District Council	Board of Revenue Dep. Comm.	Provincial Govt.	Federal Govt.	PHED
Water charges							x
Sanitation Fee		x
Livestock cess
Agriculture Cess					x
Octroi	X	x
Zila tax			x
Land tax				x
Property tax					x
Business Licences		x			x
Registration Vehicles					x
Coal Mining. etc					x
Income tax						x
Custom duty a)

Legend: x is for responsible for collection of revenue concerned.

4.7 Political Parties

Important political parties are Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N), Balochistan National Movement (BNM), Jamoot Qaumi Movement (JQM) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

4.8 Non Government Organisations

A number of NGOs have sprung up in the district in recent years. There are active in the fields of health, vocational training, welfare of women and children, general social welfare, etc. Twenty-six NGOs are listed by the Social Welfare Department in Sibi, but their actual number is more.

4.9 Conclusion and Major development Issues

The district has more or less a complete set-up of government organisations through which the state and the people can communicate with each other, felt needs of the masses can be ascertained, the state’s developmental policies implemented, and its authority asserted. Sibi, being the headquarters of Sibi division, enjoys advantage over other districts in the matter of access to higher echelons in the government’s administrative set up. This facilitates the process of development.

The much needed co-ordination between different organisations within the district is, however, not found to the required extent. The various departments in the district know little about the activities of other departments. The local government institutions, i.e. the union councils and district council are almost dormant bodies.

The Deputy Commissioner is the head of the district’s administration. He represents the government to the people and the people to the government. He is supposed to be coordinator in the district. These roles are being performed to varying extent, but his performance is marred by the fact that the line departments bypass the district administration in the formulation of development plans. The major issue, therefore, is to develop cohesion in the functioning of the various government departments. Activating the local bodies is an equally important issue. Of no less importance is the need to bring the government and local organisations into close working relationship.

5. Productive Sectors

Major productive sectors of the district are agriculture/horticulture, livestock, forestry, industry, and mining. Agriculture, taken in the broad sense comprising crops, livestock, and forestry, is the major source of employment and income among the district's productive sectors. A reliable estimate of employment generated by the productive sector is not available, nor the value of the total production. As roughly estimated, agriculture accounts for over 4/5th of the manpower and for around 3/4th of the value added in the district's sectors. In the district's overall economy, the productive sectors contribution would be around 35 - 40 percent, the rest being contributed by trade, wage employment, and service sector.

To assist the development of each productive sector, the government has established separate departments. At Sibi the departments of agriculture, livestock, forestry and industries have district level offices to monitor and assist development of their respective sectors.

The government policy with respect to productive sectors is guided by the principle of development through public-private sector cooperation. The line departments that operate in the district are assigned the functions of research, training, and extension in their respective fields to facilitate proper functioning and growth of the productive sectors which are more or less entirely privately owned and operated. In reality, however, their performance is not very satisfactory due to lack of finance, poorly trained staff, lack of motivation and dedication to duty and loose discipline among officials.

5.1  Agriculture/Horticulture

5.1.1 Introduction

The agriculture/horticulture sector is one of the major sources of income and employment in the district. The district's potential cultivated area is 85,316 hectares out of which only about 30 percent is presently cropped, due to inadequacy of surface irrigation and scanty rainfall. There is, however, scope of a substantial increase in arable land and cropping intensity through improvement in canal systems, exploitation of groundwater, and harnessing of flood water for irrigation.

The district has two cropping seasons: rabi and kharif. Rabi crops are sown in September/October and harvested in May/June. The period for kharif is June/July and September/October respectively. Major crops grown in rabi are wheat, vegetables, and fodder (mainly lucerne). In kharif season, the main crops are jowar, fruit and fodder.

Rabi is the major cropping season. During kharif season, cultivation is possible on a limited area, due to shortage of canal water. For instance, of the total cropped area during 1994-95, the Rabi season accounted for 75 percent; and the Kharif season for 25 percent; which more or less represents the average long-term situation.

Scarcity of water and communal mode of land management have led to the system of rotational cultivation. This system still holds strong in most parts of the district.

Self cultivation is the dominant mode. Its incidence is in fact on the rise, due to migration of tenants to urban centres, within and outside the district, to take up better paid jobs.

Use of agricultural machinery is increasing. Animals, however, still continue to be an important source of farm power. As far as manual labour is concerned, the farmer's household itself is the main source.

Both men and women participate in farming activities at different stages. Women's participation is quite prominent in livestock and poultry management, weeding, harvesting, and post-harvest operations. Women also undertake paid work on other people's farms at harvest time.

5.1.2 Classification of land

The district's total reported area (1994-95) is 160,000 hectares out of which 85,316 hectares are classified as "cultivated area" (Table 5.1.1). In 1994-95 as much as 70 percent of the latter was classified as fallow, while only 30 percent was reported as net sown. The high percentage of fallow land can be attributed to scarcity of water. Land use intensity is low, only 53 percent, while cropping intensity works out to a mere 30 percent for 1994-95.

Table 5.1.1

Land use in SIBI district ( 1994-95 )

Mode of land use:	Area
	Hectares	percent age
1. Land use of reported area:  1.1 Cultivated area  1.2 Pasture, forest  1.3 Cultivable waste  1.4 Not available for cultivation	85,316 40,766 11,387 22,531	53.32 25.48 7.12 14.08
1.5 Total reported area	160,000	100.00
2. Utilisation of cultivated area:  2.1 Net area sown  2.2 Current fallow	25,517 59,799	29.91 70.09
2.3 Total cultivated area:	85,316	100.00
3. Cropped Area  3.1 Net sown area  3.2 Area sown more than once	25,517 150	99.42 0.58
3.4 Total cropped area	25,667	100.00

 

Ownership of land is on individual basis. Cadastral maps are available, showing the demarcation of lands owned by land owners concerned.

Land is, however, managed on communal basis in most parts of the district. This is particularly the case in respect of lands in the command area of the canal. The community decides what part of the land is to be cropped in a particular year. Every year a new strip of land is cropped and normally a strip of land cropped once is not brought under the plough for the next four years, so as to allow it to recuperate fertility naturally.

The communal mode of land management has, however, been abandoned in Khajak and Nari areas, where plots of lands have been demarcated and assigned to the proprietors concerned, and the rotational system of cultivation has been abandoned. An individual farmer may himself decide what particular portion of his farm is to be left fallow.

Land tenure:

Self-cultivation is the dominant mode of cultivation. According to the 1990 Census of Agriculture, this mode accounted for 59 percent of the farm area in the district in that year. The corresponding figures for land operated by tenants and owner-cum- tenants are 27 percent and 14 percent respectively.

Cultivation of land through tenants is declining gradually because of a number factors, the most important among them being the availability of more remunerative off-farm jobs in and outside the district. The land given up by a tenant is rarely rented out again by the owner, who finds it more economical to cultivate it himself or with the help of hired labour instead of renting it out again on a fifty percent share of produce basis.

All rented out lands are operated under share produce (batai) basis. The basis for sharing the cost and produce by owner and tenant vary with the mode of irrigation as described below.
 

S.No.	Type of land	Share produce basis in vogue	Explanation
1.	Irrigated	50 : 50	Owners and tenants equally share the produce  Purchased inputs e.g.; chemical fertilisers are shared by tenants and owners on 50:50 basis.  Tenant undertakes either harvesting or thrashing free of cost for landlord.  Manual and animal labour is provided by tenant who also provides farm yard manure from the animals owned by him.
2.	Un-irrigated	Tenant gets 2/3rd of the produce	All purchased inputs are shared by tenant and owner on 2/3 : 1/3 basis  Other obligations of the tenants are the same as on irrigated lands
3.	Lift irrigation	Tenant gets 6/7 share in the produce	All inputs are paid by he tenants

5.1.4 Agriculture statistics
Agricultural statistics are collected and published by the Department of Agriculture. Since the yearly statistics on crop area and yields are not based on scientific surveys on year to year basis, the margin of error could be large. In all probability, as gathered from discussion with informed persons, the area and production of wheat are overestimated a little, whereas statistics in respect of minor crops, especially the new crops, are underreported. The strong emerging tendency to grow high value crops such as sugarcane, pulses, fodder, vegetables and fruit is not fully reflected in the published agricultural statistics. However, in spite of these flaws, these statistics are broadly representative of the crop situation in that they approximately portray the dominant characteristics of the cropping pattern.

Aggregated data on area under the various crops show erratic developments over the period 1990-91 to 1994-95. The five year average was 21,118 hectares, ranging between 18,324 and 25,507 hectares, meaning that deviation from the mean was 8 to 17 percent. This trend is quite normal in the ecological setting of the district, which is characterised by limited canal irrigation facilities and low rainfall.

The trend in area under wheat crop, which accounts for the bulk of the total area under crops, was more or less the same, i.e. erratic, as observed above in respect of overall crop area trend; see table 5.1.2. In fact, this crop's area trend shapes the overall trend, for the simple reason that it accounts for over 72 percent of total cropped area. Rice, oilseed and fodder crops have been characterised by stagnation, while area under pulses fluctuated from year to year. Only fruits and vegetables have shown, on the whole, rising trend in respect of area. The official statistics given in table 5.1.2 are, however, believed to underreport the area under fruit and vegetables. As suggested by field reports, in recent years, area under these crops has increased substantially.

5.1.5 Cropping pattern

Wheat, vegetables and fodder crops account for the bulk of the area under rabi crops. In 1994-95, wheat accounted for 86 percent of rabi crops, while fodder and vegetables followed with 7 percent and 5 percent respectively. Among the kharif crops, the important ones are fruits, fodder and jowar. In 1994-95, fruit accounted for 29 percent, and jowar for 26 percent of the area under crops in kharif season. In the same year, vegetables, melons, and fodder (which are the only crops besides jowar and fruit, that are grown on more than five hundred hectares each) taken together accounted together for 1,652 hectares or 26 percent of the total kharif area. Crops grown in 1994-95 (rabi and kharif) and area claimed by each of them are given in Table 5.1.3 (see annex).

Note:

Oil Seed:= Rape Seed & Mustard, Sesame.
Pulses = Moong, Mash, Moth, Masoor
Fodder = Lucerne, Fodder of Jowar, Maize, Shaftal and others.
Fruits = Apple, Apricot, Grapes, Peach, plum, Pear, Louqat and others.
Vegetables= Tomatoes, Cabbage, Carrot, Cauliflower,
Lady finger, Pumpkin, Spinach etc.
Others = All other crops not shown above.

5.1.6 Average yields, total production

The total production of all crops, with the exception of pulses, was higher in 1994-95 as compared with 1990-91. Increase in crop area as well as in yield per hectare enabled that. But on the whole, the trend in area and yields was not strongly upwards for the greater part of the period 1990-95. In 1994-95, however, crops' area and production increased substantially compared to the previous year.

5.1.7 Organisation of production/Farming system

With the exception of two government run farms meant for research with a total area of 500 acres, all farms in the district are privately owned. Relevant aspects of organisation of production in the private sector are taken up in this section. First, the mode of management.

There are three categories of farmers. These are owner operators, owner-cum-tenants and tenants. The owner operated farms accounted for 59 percent of total farm area in 1990, according to the Census of Agriculture conducted in that year.

As stated earlier in this chapter, the system of communal or joint management of land holdings is in practice in most parts of this district. The land records maintained by the Revenue Department show how much land in a given locality belongs to which individual member of the community concerned. A committee comprising elders of land owners decides what particular piece of land a particular person/household shall manage. A decision to this effect is made every year, and every year farming is shifted to a new plot, while the old plot is left fallow for four years to recuperate fertility. In other words, the rotational system of farming is practised. The only exceptions are Khajak and Nari areas, where each owner’s land has been demarcated, and annual shifting is no longer done.

After a piece of land has been assigned to the owner concerned, it is for the owner to decide whether he wants to cultivate it personally or rent it out, and what crops are to be grown. The decision of the owner in this respect is, of course, governed by the factor of water availability and the fact that he can cultivate that land only for the period until the next rotation.

The farm household itself is the chief source of farm labour, which is supplemented by casual and communal labour, mainly at land preparation and harvesting time. Very few farms have permanent hired labour. The 1990 Census of Agriculture fixed their number on only 303 for the whole district. In so far as casual labour is concerned, only a few farms in the district reported using this in 1990. The current situation in this respect is still the same.

Agriculture is conducted mainly as a domestic enterprise. The household supplies almost all the labour and some inputs, and is also the major consumer of the farm's produce. Both men and women take part in farming. According to the 1990 Census of Agriculture, out of the total family workers doing farm work on part or full time basis in Sibi district, 23 percent were women. Among the full time farm workers, the representation of women was 14 percent, and among the part-timers it was 41 percent. It is interesting to note, that of the total women reported to be engaged in family farms, 42 percent worked on full time basis.

The 1990 Census of Agriculture seems to suffer from bias of under-enumeration of women's participation in farm activity. It is a widely known fact that women perform the bulk of the livestock maintenance work, and they heavily participate in several farm operations, especially at harvest and post harvest stages. According to the district's agricultural officers and informed persons, women's participation is regular and heavy in weeding, harvesting and post- harvest management of crops (assembling, cleaning, storage).The same applies to livestock management, where poultry keeping is entirely the domain of women.

Most farmers continue to use old agricultural practices for the way land is to be prepared for sowing, the method of sowing, input combination, and other crop production and crop protection practices. Use of agricultural machinery and improved inputs is, however, much more widespread than two or three decades ago and is on the rise. Tractors and threshers are in good demand. The percentage of farmers who use fertilisers is reported to be larger than before. Most farmers use improved seeds of wheat, sugarcane, fodder crops, and oilseeds. The use of improved inputs, machinery, etc., is higher in Khajak and Nari areas of Sibi and fruit growing areas of Harnai, as compared to other parts of the district. The level of use of improved inputs is, however, generally below the recommended one.

Tractors and bullocks co-exist, and complement each other. It is unlikely that tractors will entirely replace bullock, but the trend is definitely in favour of tractors. Thrashers have almost replaced the traditional mode of thrashing. They are more efficient and also more economical than bullock thrashing.

The percentage of farmers who use chemical fertilisers is rising, as stated above, but most farmers do not use the recommended doses. As reported in the 1990 Census of Agriculture, 49 percent of the farmers used chemical fertilisers in combination with farm yard manure and 15 percent used fertilisers only. Presently, the frequency of fertiliser use presently would be the same or a little higher than in 1990.

About 43 percent of the farmers used insecticides in 1990. The Agriculture Department's estimate is higher for present times. Increase in area under fruits and vegetables is expected to further increase the of use of this input, although the price factor is a serious obstacle in this respect.

5.1.8 Irrigation

For irrigation, the district depends on the Nari canal which accounts for about 90 percent of the district's irrigated area. Open and tube wells account for a small proportion of the irrigated area; only 4 percent in 1994 -95. Springs and other sources account for the rest of irrigated area; 6 percent in 1994-95. Springs are found in Harnai tehsil only.

There are no karezes in the district. In some places farmers directly draw water from streams and the river Nari using lift pumps. No estimate is available of the area irrigated through lift pumps, but it is believed to be small.

Table 5.1.5

Inventory of irrigation schemes in Sibi district
 

Source of irrigation	Hectares					Percentages
	90-91	91-92	92-93	93-94	94-95		90-91	91-92	92-93	93-94	94-95
1. Canal	20000	20000	18178	20000	20000		93.30	93.35	94.49	90.21	90.11
2. Wells	35	54	90	90	90		0.16	0.25	0.47	0.41	0.41
3. Tube Wells	400	422	600	780	804		1.87	1.97	3.12	3.52	3.62
4. Spring & Others	1000	950	370	1300	1300		4.67	4.43	1.92	5.86	5.86
Total	21435	21426	19238	22170	22194		100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00	100.00

Source: Irrigation Department, Sibi District

Potential exists for a substantial increase in the area under surface irrigation. According to the Irrigation Department, 10,930 hectares of new lands can be brought under irrigation in the next 5-10 years. An area of 6,199 hectares has been surveyed and irrigation schemes have been prepared. These schemes are awaiting government's approval. A survey of the remaining area of 4,731 hectares, where irrigation schemes can be developed, has not been undertaken yet.

Table 5.1.6

Irrigation potential of Sibi district (Hectares)
 

Irrigation potentials	Type of potential area
	Perennial irrigation	Flood irrigation	Total Area
1. Potential are already surveyed  2. Area not yet surveyed	6023 4502	176 229	6199 4731
3. Total	10,525	405	10930

Source: Irrigation Department, Sibi District.

The district has only one canal, the Nari canal. It is categorised as 'government canal' constructed, maintained and owned by the government. Water users are not required to pay for water or the canal's maintenance cost, but the Irrigation Department can, and does when the need arise, require them to participate in the canal's annual cleaning.

The water courses are communal property. They are collectively maintained by the water users. The government is not supposed to contribute to repair costs of the water courses, but it does if major repairs are involved. There is also governmental involvement in the irrigation systems improvement program. One of the activities carried out under this programme concerns the lining of water courses in order to prevent water losses. The government also has a programme for improvement of on-farm irrigation in the district.

Each water course is allocated water according to its command area. Water rights are allocated to the community. The water is then allocated to each farm in proportion to its share in the total command area. The allocation among farms is done by the community itself. Water rights are fixed in terms of hours of water supply. In local terminology it is called wakht bandi (time fixed for water supply). For each water course, there is a water draw schedule, showing the name of the water right holder, and the number of hours of water supply allocated to him. Water is drawn by farmers turn by turn in accordance with this schedule.

The Nari canal supplies 64 pao of water to its command area; a pao is equal to approximately 1.80 cubic feet per second. The shares of different localities / tribes / organisations are shown below.

Water right Holders Water allocated from

Nari canal in Sibi tehsil

( Pao )

1. Khajak 6.5

2. Dehpal & Dadi 7.0

3. Safi 8.0

4. Marghzani 7.0

5. Kuruk 7.0

6. Sibi Town 6.0

7. Luni 3.0

8. Bhakra 2.0

9. Kot Barozai 2.0

10. Forest department 1.5

11. Khudaidad Marghzani 1.0

12. Mosiani 1.0

13. Naudhani 1.0

14. Mandwani 1.0

Total 64.0 pao(apprx: 115.2 cusecs)

5.1.9 Agricultural meachanisation

Most farmers use tractors. Wheat thrashers are becoming popular too. Tractors are used for land preparation as well as haulage purposes. According to the Census of Agriculture, 1990, as many as 49 percent of the farmers in this district used only tractors, 23 percent used only draught animals, while 28 percent used tractors as well as draught animals for farming. Not much has changed since 1990, except that the percentage of tractor and thrasher users would be presently a little higher.

The use of tractors appears to be inversely correlated with the size of the farm. For instance, the 1990 Census of Agriculture found that as many as 75 percent of the farmers with less than one acre of farm-land used only tractors, while the corresponding figure is 49 percent for farmers with 150 acres or more. This can be explained by the high cost of maintenance of draught animals on small holdings, and relatively easier availability of tractors on rent. The rent is on hourly basis.

5.1.10 Agricultural/horticultural inputs

Input supply is managed entirely by the private sector. It is shared by businessmen operating regular shops, and individuals operating without shops, while farmers themselves produce part of certain inputs. The major sources of supply, as ascertained from the Department of Agriculture (Extension) Sibi, are given below in Table 5.1.10.

Table 5.1.7

Main sources of supply of agricultural inputs

5.1.11 Marketing

Agricultural/horticultural surpluses find their way to consumers through a variety of channels depending on the type of product.: cereals, vegetables and fruit.

Wheat is the principal cereal crop of the district. The wheat marketing channels are charted below.

Small farmers sell the bulk of their cereals within the village to the beopari (trader) coming to the village at harvest time from Sibi town. The other important outlets for them are the village shopkeepers. The beoparis mostly operate wholesale shops, or work for wholesale sellers, and mostly they contract advance sale of the crop in return for the loan facility extended by them to the farmers.

The relatively bigger farmers mostly sell their produce in the wholesale markets at Sibi and Harnai. They also sell part of their produce on farm to beopari, and directly on the Quetta market.

The marketing channels of vegetables are shorter as compared with cereals. The most commonly used channels are charted below.

In the vegetable wholesale markets at Sibi and Harnai, bulk sale of quickly perishable vegetables is usually done by auction, conducted by commission agents. Most growers have prior arrangements with commission agents for sale of their produce. Vegetables having relatively longer shelf life may not be necessarily put on auction the same day they reach the market. The relatively big farmers leave their produce with commission agents for disposal at a price not below the floor price set by the farmers themselves.

In the case of fruit the marketing channels are almost identical to the ones for vegetables, in case the orchard owners sell their fruit after picking it themselves. However, the most common practice is to sell the fruit at flowering stage to contractors who then become responsible for harvesting, transportation, etc.

5.1.12 Producer and consumer prices of major crops

Prices of agricultural produce of Sibi for 1991-95 or any single year, are not available on record. The prices in Quetta market are stated to be a good proxy for Sibi market prices, with about 10-15 percent downward adjustment.

5.1.13 Level of income

No authentic data is available on level of income of the farm sector in the period 91-92 to 1994-95. Prices of all agriculture products have been rising continuously during that time, but the rise in the prices of agriculture inputs has been of a much higher order. Considering these facts, and also the fact that the prices of non-farm products have risen relatively more, the Agriculture Department's officers and informed persons are of the view that the farm sector's level of income, in real terms, has been stagnant or declining since 1991-92.

5.1.14  Department of Agriculture
Sibi district, being also the divisional headquarters, has divisional as well as district level Agriculture Department officers who are responsible for agriculture extension, research, and on-farm water management. The departments and agencies are:

1. Agriculture Extension Department, Sibi division, headed by Deputy Director Of Agriculture (extension).

2. Department of Agriculture Extension, Sibi district, with offices at Sibi and Harnai each headed by an Extra Assistant Director of Agriculture (extension).

3. Agriculture Farm, Sibi.

4. Model Agriculture Farm, Sibi.

5. On farm water management project, headed by Extra Assistant Director of Agriculture.

6. Oilseed research project, headed by senior Oilseed, Botanist.

The last four establishments are directly controlled by the Director General, Agriculture Extension. While the EADAs (extension) at district level are supervised by the Deputy Director of Agriculture (extension), Sibi Division.
 

CHART

Agriculture. Farm, Sibi

OFWMP, Sibi

Model Agriculture Farm, Sibi

The four agricultural establishments on the right side of the organigramme are directly controlled by the Director General of Agriculture Extension, Balochistan, whose office is in Quetta. The Deputy Director Agriculture, Sibi division, controls the EADAs at Sibi and Harnai Tehsils, while the Agriculture Farm Sibi, is under EADA, Sibi. The two EADAs offices (at Sibi and Harnai) constitute the Agriculture Extension Department of Sibi district, but work independently. They have a total staff of 157.

The Agriculture Extension Department disseminates knowledge of improved inputs, agricultural practices, new crops, and crop protection measures as its normal functions. To this end, it follows a standard set of activities comprising laying the demonstration plots of improved varieties of wheat, vegetables, and other crops, pruning of fruit plants, establishing new orchards, conducting crop sprays with insecticides, rodent control and soil treatment. Main thrust of the extension program is towards promotion of improved varieties, and introduction of new high value crops. Major share is normally allocated to wheat (in rabi) and sorghum (in kharif). Though in smaller numbers, the Agriculture Extension Department also has demonstration plots of high yielding varieties of vegetables, sarsoon, sugarcane, pulses, sunflower, etc.

The Agriculture Extension Department has a fairly large number of extension workers, but the farming community does not consider their performance to be satisfactory. The Agriculture Extension Officers themselves admit that the extension services have not been able to make much impact on the agriculture sector. They blame this on insufficiency of funds for agriculture research, demonstration plots, travelling to the villages, holding farmers meetings (field days), etc. Hardly one or two percent of the Agriculture Extension Department's budget is allocated for carrying out extension work. Even this amount is allegedly not fully or properly utilised for the purpose it is meant for.

The Agriculture Farm, Sibi, controlled by EADA, Sibi District, was established in 1986. Its total area is 25 acres: orchard 18 acres, flower nursery 3 acres, fodder plots 1 acre, and roads cover 3 acres. The farm is irrigated by the Nari canal. The farm specialises in fruit and flower nurseries. The plants grown in the nursery are distributed among farmers in the district. A few fruit orchards have been developed in the Khajak area, near Sibi town. The nursery plants were supplied by the Agriculture Farm, but on the whole, the farm has not been able to make much impact in the area. The major bottleneck is the system of rotational cultivation. Rotational cultivation hinders development of orchards, as it takes at least five years before a fruit tree bears fruit. In Khajak area, where the rotational system has been given up, farmers have started planting fruit plants.

The oilseed project is headed by a Senior Oilseed Botanist. It is located at the Model Agriculture Farm where an area of 100 acres has been set aside for this project. Presently, research is concentrated on sunflowers. Because of the salinity and saline water problems, yield performance of the crops grown under this project is not satisfactory.

The total area of the Model Agricultural Farm IMAF) is 480 acres, out of which 100 acres have been given to the oilseed project. The farm grows wheat, sarsoon, sunflower, other crops, and fruits (dates, berries, citrus etc) using modern agricultural practices and improved inputs. It has four tube wells for irrigation. The tube well water is, however, saline and the soils are saline too. These two factors have rendered it impossible to achieve the model farm's objective of dissemination of model farming systems. In fact, presently the average farmer's crops yields are better than those of the model farm. Things can, however, drastically improve by providing canal water to the farm. Efforts are afoot to provide one pao canal water to the farm. Presently, the local farmers are opposing this, as they have a claim on the water proposed for the farm, In addition, they think that the farm will simply waste the water. If the farm does not get the required canal water, it will serve no useful purpose for crop production. Provision of canal water will, however, turn it into an effective medium of agriculture development in the area.

Government and private enterprises provide various services to the agricultural sector. The government's role consists of agriculture extension services, development, operation and management of irrigation systems, agriculture research, agriculture training etc. These are important areas of activity, but the government’s concerned Departments performance is reported to be not very satisfactory.

Private enterprises are also substantially involved with the provision of various services to the agriculture sector. They include input supply, price setting, credit, etc. Credit in the private sector is almost entirely a monopoly of the Hindu traders based in Sibi town.

The public and private sector agriculture services are allegedly not providing a fair deal to farmers. The public agencies are inefficient, and the private sector charge prohibitive prices.

x minor involvement

xx substantial involvement

xxx major involvement

5.1.16 Conclusions and major developement issues

On the whole, the agriculture sector is characterised by stagnation. No report worthy progress has been made in respect of increase in arable land; yields are low and the process of diversification in cropping pattern is slow.

The district has a full fledged Agriculture Eextension Department, but it has not been able to make visible positive impact on agriculture sector. It has achievements to its credit, but they fall far short of the farmers expectations and needs.

The major development issues in this sector are provision of more irrigation, activation of agriculture extension work on a larger scale, introduction of high yielding varieties, supply of improved inputs at low cost, improvement in marketing system, farmers training, etc. In short, the entire agriculture support services in public and private sectors need to be overhauled and mobilised with full thrust.

5.2  LIVESTOCK

5.2.1 Introduction

Livestock keeping is an important source of income and employment in the district. Its contribution to the district's economy in terms of value of the production and employment has not been determined, but is believed to be close to that of crop production. Important livestock are goats, sheep and cattle. Buffaloes are found, too, but in a relatively small number. Donkeys and camels are found in good number and are important sources of draught power for farming and haulage.

Study of trends in size and composition of livestock population in the district is marred by non-availability of relevant and accurate up to date data. Only the livestock censuses of 1976 and 1986 can give an idea as to the approximate size and composition of the district's livestock population and its trend. The 1976 livestock data is of no help because it is inclusive of Sibi and Ziarat. The results of 1996 livestock census are not yet available.

In 1986, Sibi district had 59,301 Livestock Units (LUs). The corresponding figures for 1996 are not available. A near approximation to the current livestock situation is furnished by the Pakistan Census of Agriculture (1990) according to which in 1990, Sibi District had 56,776 LUs. The 1990 Agriculture Census estimate of the district's livestock population is believed to be on the low side, because it was primarily the Census of Agriculture, not of livestock, and as such livestock holders' representation in the sample (on which the census estimates are based) was not adequate. The 1990 Agriculture Census data are, however, not thought to be wide off the mark. On the basis of discussion with agriculture officers and others in the district, it can be concluded that in 1990, the district's livestock population would be around, or a little more than the LUs of 1986. Furthermore, the 1995 situation would be approximately the same as the situation in 1990. This stagnation is attributable chiefly to stagnation and deterioration in pasture facilities, fodder supply and an increase in slaughter rates.

In livestock management, the entire family participates. Those keeping large herds employ wage paid workers as well, but normally it is a family managed enterprise. Within the family the main participants are women and to a lesser extent children. Women do the entire or most of the work in respect of cattle shed cleaning, feeding the animals, milking, etc. As it is a family enterprise, household members, whether men or women, attending to their own animals are not paid for the work.

5.2.2 Cattle

In 1986, cattle accounted for 45 percent of the total livestock units in the district. In 1990, the corresponding figure was 30 percent, and the 1995 figure would not be different. Causes of decline in percentage of cattle after 1986 could not be ascertained.

The only authentic data on the number of cattle per household are provided by the 1990 Census of Agriculture, according to which the agriculturists in the district had (in 1990) 5.27 dairy/beef cattle and draught animals per household. The distribution was: 3.90 cows and bulls; 0.17 buffaloes; and 1.20 drought animals. The 1995 situation is believed to be the same.

5.2.3 Small Ruminants

On this subject too, recourse has to be made to the 1990 Census of Agriculture, as no more recent source is available. According to the census, the district had 42,003 goats and 28,072 sheep in 1990. Out of the total of 4,326 households covered by the 1990 Census of Agriculture, 1,567 households had sheep and 3,872 had goats. Goats and sheep are kept at domestic level in small numbers, as well as in herds of varying sizes. About 45 percent of the goat or sheep owners had 1-4 animals. Those keeping herds of more than 50 animals accounted for 12 percent of the goat or sheep owners. Keeping of small ruminants has gradually received a commercial touch. Yet there is a limit on the number of sheep and goats the district can hold in view of the presence of grazing lands. There are no reports of sizeable pasture development in the district. Hence, it is no surprise that households maintaining only 1-4 sheep/goats constituted the single largest category in 1990. The existing situation in not likely to be materially different.

During 1994-95 a total of 31,314 animals were slaughtered in the district. Goats accounted for 51 percent and sheep for 42 percent of the slaughtered animals. These are Livestock Department's estimates and these are believed to be on the low side. The actual number of animals slaughtered in the district must be more than twice the above numbers. There is a slaughter house in Sibi town, but it is closed down. Thus, all animals, whether in the town or villages, are slaughtered in shops are at home, as the case may be.

5.2.4 Poultry

Poultry farming on a commercial scale has not yet taken root in the private sector. The solitary government poultry farm at Sibi had 8,034 birds including 6,534 broilers in 1994-95. Broilers are available in the market in abundance. The main sources of supply are Quetta and Sukkur. Poultry keeping is, however, fairly popular at domestic level. Both local and improved types (fayumi layers) are found in the district. Fayumi is a good layer, and is, therefore becoming popular. At domestic level, women look after poultry, and manage to an extent the sale of eggs. Exact nature and extent of women's participation in sale of chicks and hens could not be ascertained. It is there, but not on a large scale.

The average size of flock at domestic level is around 8- 10 birds. Poultry keeping as a domestic commercial enterprise is almost non-existent. People keep poultry mostly for their own consumption and for guests. Poultry does not constitute a regular item of domestic consumption. It is, however, mostly found on the table in case of festivities and in case of guests.

5.2.5 Veterinary Institutions

The district has two veterinary hospitals, 22 veterinary dispensaries, one artificial insemination centre, and one disease investigation laboratory (DIL) unit, under the overall control of the Assistant Director, Livestock Development Department, Sibi District. These veterinary institutions have a total staff of 150 people, including seven veterinarian and 47 Stock Assistants. The total budget for 1995-96 was Rs. 4.21 million (Rs. 3.84 million for pay and allowances and Rs. 0.36 million for contingencies). During 1995-96, the Veterinary hospital/dispensaries treated and vaccinated 167,567 animals. Thus, one veterinarian attended to 3,096 animals during the year or ten per day (assuming 300 working days a year) - a figure too good to be believed. Cost of treatment borne by the government was Rs. 25 per animal (spent on staff's salaries, medicines etc).

The number of animals treated and vaccinated in different years may fluctuate violently because of outbreak of diseases and also due to migration of cattle to Sind Province when there is a draught in Sibi. There is, however, found scepticism on the accuracy of disease control data originating from official sources. The figures relating to animals treated seem to be exaggerated.

The Livestock Department provides medicines for livestock at 50 percent of the costs, while nothing is charged for treatment services. Most of the livestock owners are unable to afford medicine even at 50 percent subsidy.

5.2.6 Department of Livestock Development

The veterinary offices existing in the district are: Livestock Development Department, Sibi division, headed by a Deputy Director; Livestock Development Department, Sibi district, headed by an Assistant Director; a Beef Research Centre; and the Government Poultry Farm.

5.2.7 GO/NGO/Private Enterprise, etc. Involvement in Livestock Development
The services provided by the public sector and other agencies are shown below.
 

Coverage Livestock. Services	Local Govt	Prov. Govt	Fed. Govt.	NGO	Internat. Donor	Private Entr.
Animal Husbandry	-	xxx	-	-	-	-
Veterinary Hospital	-	xxx	-	-	-	-
Veterinary Dispensary	-	xxx	-	-	-	-
A.I. Service	-	xxx	-	-	-	-
Input Supply	-	-	-	-	-	xxx
Marketing	-	-	-	-	-	xxx
Price Setting	-	-	-	-	-	xxx
Credit	-	-	xx	-	-	xx
Dairy Devt.	-	xxx	-	-	-	xx
Slaughtering	-	-	-	-	-	xxx
Livestock Statistics	-	xxx	-	-	-	-

Legend: - no involvement

x minor involvement

xx substantial involvement

xxx major involvement.

5.2.8 Conclusion and Major Development Issues

The livestock sector of Sibi district is one of the major sources of its income and employment. The district has a large and deep rooted tradition of livestock raising, but this advantage is not being properly exploited. Shrinking grazing facilities, expensive medicines for livestock, farmers ignorance of modern methods of livestock management, etc., are important problem areas in the livestock sector. The veterinary services performance leaves much room for improvement. These issues need to be studied and appropriate measures need to be adopted for livestock development, which along with development of crop farming can make a good contribution to the farmers well being within a short period of time.

5.3  Fisheries

Except hobby fishing on a very minor scale, there is no fishing activity in the district. Perhaps, in the distant future, development of fish farming could be considered as a limited income supplementing activity. Presently, the Nari river is the only fishing site in the area. It is a small perennial river over which a dam has been built from where the Nari canal takes off.

4. Forestry

According to the Forest Department, the district's forest area is 40,044 hectares distributed over 14 forests (Agricultural Statistics indicate a forest area of 37,206). With the exception of Gulusheher reserve of 374 hectares which is a thick forest, all others are scattered forests, while Dhepal forest (647 hectares) is completely deforested.

Table 5.4.1

Forest area in Sibi district

Reserve forests total area is 8,736 hectares accounting for 22 percent of the total forest area in the district. These forests are privately owned but are protected and managed by the Forest Department. Under the forest rules, wood cutting in reserve forests is prohibited except with the Forest Department's permission. Enforcement of forestry rules is, however, far from satisfactory. People cut trees and tree branches at will. The contractors appointed under official licence by the Forest Department for tree felling, reportedly cut more than the number of trees they were permitted. Consequently, almost all reserve forests are very thin.

5.4.2 State Forests

State Forests occupy an area of 27,747 acres, which is 69 percent of the district's total forest area. The overall condition of state forests is better than that of the reserve forests. The forest department has planted acacia and other trees on several hundred acres of land in Gulusheher. This plantation has been quite successful.
 

S.No	Name of Forest	Nature of Forest	Total Area on 1st Oct, 96 in Acres	Area under Forest Cover as Percentage	Comments
1	Dehpal	R/f	1599	Nil	Completely deforested
2	Gulusheher	Reserve Forest	725	46	Thick Forest
3	Abdullah Khaili	-do-	197	2	Scattered
4	Mari Bank	-do-	1226	13	-do-
5	Bakhra	State Forest	1688	7	-do-
6	Lehri	Reserve Forest	427	16	-do-
7	Talli	-do-	16180	10	-do-
8	Nam Kach	State Forest	2320	11	-do-
9	Nam Tangi	Reserve Forest	1233	8	-do-
10	Nishpa	Range Land	8800	25	Declared as Range
11	Dingloeghar	State Forest	27770	6	Scattered Forest
12	Tangisar	-do-	6450	20	-do-
13	Chasnak	-do-	3648	8	-do-
14	Pan Churman	-do-	26690	6	-do-

5.4.3 Commercial Forestry

Commercial forestry is non-existent in the district. In the close reaches of Nari canal and its branches, a large number of trees have sprung up naturally and many have been planted by the farmers themselves. But these trees are in scattered form, and no large block plantations for commercial purpose have been seen or reported in the district.

5.4.4 Major Vegetation

No statistics or descriptive accounts of major vegetation are available. However, among the trees found in the area acacia, berries, and eucalyptus are most numerous. Many kinds of shrubs are also found.

5.4.5 Cutting/Marketing/Processing

Officially speaking, wood cutting in the forests is done only under licence. In the close vicinity of Sibi town, the forestry law in this respect is enforced with a fair degree of success. In far flung forests illegal cutting of trees is quite frequent. Marketing and processing operations are carried out by the private sector. Contractors cut wood on licence, and they arrange all subsequent operations.

5.4.6 Department of Forestry Development

The district forests are administered by the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) who is based in Sibi town. Besides the DFO, his office has about ninety officials.

5.4.7 Wildlife

Wolves, Hyenas, Bears, foxes etc are found in the district in small numbers. Birds of various kinds abound in the area. The white sea gull is a common sight there.

5.4.8 Bee keeping

There are no reports of existence of bee keepers in the district. Potential for bee-keeping, however, exist in Harnai Tehsil.

5.4.9 GO/NGO/Private Enterprise, etc. involvement in Forestry Development
 

Coverage Forestry Services	Local Govt.	Prov. Govt.	Fed. Govt.	NGO	Internat. Donor	Private Entr.
Tree Planing	-	xx	-	-	-	x
Tree harvesting	-	xxx	-	-	-	xxx
Fuel wood Cutting / Processing	-	xxx	-	-	-	xxx
Fuel wood marketing	-	-	-	-	-	xxx
Timber wood cutting	-	-	-	-	-	xxx
Timber wood processing	-	-	-	-	-	xxx
Sale of timber	-	-	-	-	-	xxx
Bee Keeping

Legend: - no involvement

x minor involvement

xx substantial involvement

xxx major involvement.

5.4.10 Conclusion and major Development Issues

The district has experienced large scale deforestation. Fifty years ago, it had thick forests over a large area. Now, all but one or two of the forests have only scattered vegetation. The Forest Department has done reforestation near Sibi town, reserved a large area for range land in the district, and prohibited tree cutting except with a licence. There is a need to pursue the reforestation and forest protection programme more vigorously. Supply of natural gas to Sibi town has, according to local people, considerably slowed down deforestation. Extension of this facility to other localities in Sibi district will have a very positive impact on the forestry sector and the environmental situation.

5.5  Mining

5.5.1 Introduction

Coal is the only mineral extracted in the district. There are two coal mines, employing 729 workers. During 1990-95, the average annual coal extraction was 402,780 tones.

No survey report of mineral resources of the district is available. Marble (black), oil and gas are believed to be present in the area.

5.5.3 Mines, Production, Processing, Marketing

The coal mines use antiquated equipment and processes. The age old methods of coal extraction, haulage from the mine, communication system using manually operated wires, etc; are still in use. There are frequent accidents and the number of casualties is high, as the old alarm and rescue systems are inefficient. The workers are poorly paid and not provided with proper housing, amenities, medical facilities, etc.

The entire coal production of the district is sold in Punjab province. It is transported to Punjab in about twenty trucks a day.

5.5.4 Department of Industries and Mineral Development

The mining sector is administrated from Quetta. There is no office of the Department in Sibi.

5.5.5 GO/NGO/Private Enterprise, etc, involvement in Mining

Licences for coal mining are issued by the provincial government. Exploitation, processing and transportation of the coal are the mine operator's responsibility.
 

x minor involvement

xx substantial involvement

xxx major involvement

5.5.6 Conclusions and Major Development Issues

Mining industry is limited to only two coal mines. There could be prospects for more coal mines and exploitation of marble in the distant future.

The working conditions in the mining sector are poor. The mining methods are antiquated. The Department of Industries and Mineral Development needs to take appropriate action.

5.6  Industry and Trade

5.6.1 Introduction

Sibi district has over a hundred milling and processing units, with total reported employment of less than five thousand. Trading and service sectors have expanded considerably during the last decade and a half, and further expansion, especially in the informal sector, is in evidence. Official data on the subject, however, does not fully portray the factual position. The available statistics are given in Table 5.6.1.

Table 5.6.1

Number of Enterprises and Employees In Sibi District, 1993 - 94

5.6.2. Small enterprise development

The Small Industries Development Board runs a wood work training centre. Only 20 persons are trained per year. It is a well-managed centre, and students, all male, acquire good skills here, which is put to productive use by them. However, this one training facility only is considered inadequate for the district.

The Small Business Finance corporation has an office in Sibi. The scale and impact, if any, of its activities could not be ascertained.

Female participation in industrial activity is not reported in official statistics. The local inhabitants (all males) interviewed by the researcher did not speak of any participation of women in this respect. There are, however, several direct and indirect indicators which suggest that women do take part in industrial activity. Their participation in brick kilns is quite visible. Other examples are embroidery, tailoring (at home), wool spinning, mat making, etc.

5.6.3 Manufacturing

The manufacturing and milling units that exist in the district are local demand oriented. These include brick kilns, flour mills, automobile repair workshops, gold smiths, carpentry and pottery. Local production of manufactured goods is not enough to meet local demand. The district, therefore, depends heavily on other areas for most of its supplies of manufactured goods.

5.6.4. Trade

No direct import or export of goods from or to other countries is done. Imported goods found in the Sibi shops are secured from Quetta and other cities. None of the district's products enters the country's foreign trade.

5.6.5 Tourism

The district does not attract many tourists, except during the annual Sibi week when tourists and traders come to Sibi town in a large number to see the festival, and to buy and sell animals of good breeds. There are only a few places of interest for tourists and they can be visited in a day or two. Transit tourists are occasionally seen in Sibi town, but their number is small. The district, however, has potential for tourism.

5.6.6 Handicrafts

No report worthy handicrafts are made in this district. Rugs from goats' hair, are made, but not on a commercial scale. Similarly sacks for carrying water are made out of hides and skins, but again on a limited scale and all for domestic use. Embroidery is carried out at domestic level by women. Sales, if any, are very limited.

5.6.7  Directorate of Small Industries
Institutions exist in the district to support and facilitate small enterprise development, but they have not been able to make any visible impact in this respect, so far. The Directorate of Small Industries has a wood work training centre in Sibi town. The district could do with more training centres on other skills and crafts.

5.6.8 GO/NGO/SME, etc. involvement in Industrial Development
 

Coverage commercial Services	Local Govt.	Prov Govt	Fed. Govt	NGO	Internat Donor	Private Entr.
Vocational Training	-	xxx	-	x	-	-
Management Training	-	xxx	-		-	-
Acquisition	-	xxx	-		-	-
Public Relations	-	-	-		-	-
Credit	-	-	-		-	xxx
Marketing	-	-	-	-	-	xxx

  Legend: - no involvement

x minor involvement

xx substantial involvement

xxx major involvement

5.6.9 Conclusion and Major Development Issues

The processing and manufacturing units that exist in the area, are local demand oriented. The district possesses neither a good raw material nor manpower base, that could attract industrial investment on a large scale. From these observations regarding prospects of large industrial units, it is, however, not to be concluded that the industry and trade sector does not have any development potentials. On the contrary, the rapid growth of small industrial services and processing units like workshops, flour mills, brick kilns, pottery, etc, and of petty trading in informal sector is indicative of great development potential of the district in these spheres. The process of development at the level of micro enterprises, industrial as well as commercial, can be facilitated and accelerated by providing appropriate facilities such as training, credit, investment, advisory services, etc. Vocational training need be provided to men as well as women on a sufficient scale. Women entrepreneurs need to be encouraged by providing credit facilities, e.g. for buying sewing machines, embroidery and carpet frames, etc.

6. Economic Infrastructure and Communications

6.1 Introduction

The situation with respect to economic infrastructure and communications is on the whole satisfactory and further development is underway in the district. Rapid urban development has taken place in the district during the last decade and a half. The overall state of roads is good, and most parts of the district are accessible by trunk and link roads throughout the year, but a journey on link roads is not comfortable, as they are mostly shingled.

The transport situation has considerably improved, but is not yet satisfactory. In almost all other respects telecommunication, postal service, banking facilities, electricity and gas supply, etc, the district has registered progress, though a lot more remains to be done.

6.2 Roads

The road situation is, on the whole, fairly satisfactory as all urban and semi urban centres and most of the villages can be reached throughout the year with varying ease through metalled and shingled roads. The total length of roads is 566 km (1995); 87 km metalled and 479 km shingled as shown in table 6.2.1.

Table 6.2.1

Roads In Sibi District ( 1995 )

( Kilometres )
 

Type of Road	National Highway	Provincial Roads	District Council	Other Agencies	Total
Metalled	25	62	---	---	87
Shingle	45	221	---	213	479
Total	70	283	---	213	566

Source : 1. C & W Department, Sibi

2. Development Statistics, BOS, GOB.

The provincial roads and sections of the national highways passing through the district are maintained by the C&W Department. The roads shown in Table 6.2.1 under the column " Other Agencies " are link roads constructed with MPAs/MNAs grants and local government department funds. The C&W Department is not responsible for their maintenance and for that reason its data does not include these roads. The C&W Department maintains 14 roads with a total length of 353 km (87 km metalled and 266 km shingle roads).

6.3 Transport

The transport situation in the district is much better than ten years ago, but it is not satisfactory yet as indicated by vehicles overloaded with passengers and goods. Mechanised and animal driven vehicles (donkey carts and tongas) co-exists. Most vehicles are not in good shape.

About 35 passenger carriers daily operate between Sibi and Quetta. These include approximately 30 wagons, one coaster, and 3 to 4 buses. Beside, almost every 10 to 15 minutes, a bus from Sind on its way to Quetta passes through Sibi town. Wagons are normally packed with as many as 20 passengers against the standard capacity of 14. Buses are similarly crammed with passengers and goods. Human and small animals can frequently be seen travelling together in the same vehicle.

Women face great difficulty in travelling. In the front place they cannot travel alone whether it is within in town or from one town to the other. They are invariably escorted by their men. The transport operators have tendency to squeeze an unduly large number of women on a few seats.

Trucks, tractors, donkey carts, horse carts, and camels are used for haulage of goods. Several hundred donkey carts are operating in the district, but these are not shown in official statistics as they are not registered.

Cars, trucks and other mechanised vehicles are registered with the Excise & Taxation Department, Sibi district. Tongas, rheras, donkey carts, etc are not required to be registered with this department. Besides those registered in Sibi, a large number of vehicles registered in other places, operate in the district.

6.4 Rail and Airways

Sibi district is connected with Quetta and Sukkur by railway line. In Sibi the line branches to Harnai. The train service to Harnai is not regular.

The district has a small airport, a few kilometres from Sibi town. However, it is not in regular use.

6.5 Radio and Television

There was a Radio Station in Sibi town, but it closed down as soon as it was commissioned. Most households in the town, and many in the villages, have radios. The number of households with radios, however, can not be ascertained. The number of radio licences issued by the post office is not a good indicator in this respect, as hardly any one obtains a radio licence.

Television is commonly in possession of households in town and also villages. Most households in the town are reported to be in possession of TV, and quite a few have dish antennas to receive satellite transmission.

6.6 Telecommunication

Telecommunication facilities are concentrated mainly in the urban centres of the district and the villages in their close proximity. There are two government pcos and three private pcos. Many shopkeepers also provide telephone facilities on payment. Over a thousand of homes have telephone connections. A few government offices have fax machines.

6.7 Post Office/Courier Services

The district has two major and twenty four sub post offices. In Sibi town there are branches of two nationally known private couriers.

6.8 Banking/Financial Institutions

There are six branches of commercial banks in the district: five in Sibi tehsil and one in Harnai town. In addition, there is a branch office of the Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan and of the Small Business Finance Corporation in Sibi town. The Cooperative Department has an office in Sibi. Its functions include provision of credit to farmers, but presently this facility has been suspended due to large scale defaults of borrowers.

6.9 Electricity

The district has three grid stations. Besides the urban centres, Sibi town and Harnai town, electricity is available to ten villages according to WAPDA. The officially reported number of electricity consumers is 7,159 (for 1995-96), but the actual number is said to be much higher, perhaps twice or three times the official number, as there are numerous illegal electricity connections in the urban as well as the rural areas.

Natural gas is only available to Sibi town. The total number of consumers is 2,452; all but 50 are domestic connections.

6.10 Rest Houses

The district has a circuit house and five rest houses. There are a large number of hotels and restaurants in the private sector. Hotels facilities are poor. The circuit house and four of the five rest houses are located in Sibi town. There is one rest house in Harnai town. All have electricity and cooking facilities. The circuit house has provision for eleven air-conditioners, but presently only two rooms have these, and even these two do not operate due to low voltage.

The governmental residential colonies, all in Sibi town, are: Railway colony, Police colony, Irrigation colony, Commissioner's staff colony, Deputy Commissioner staff colony, C&W staff colony and Labour colony.

6.11 GO/Private Enterprise, etc. involvement in Energy, Transport and Communications Development.
 

Coverage Economic Infrastructure Services	Local Govt:	Prov: Govt:	Fed: Govt:	NGO	Internat Donor	Private Entr:
Road works	*	***	*	-	-	-
Transport (buses)	-	-	-	-	-	***
Railway	-	-	***	-	-	-
Airway	-	-	***	-	-	-
Radio and Television	-	-	***	-	-	-
Banking/Financial Institutions	-	-	***	-	-	***
Electricity	-	-	***	-	-	-
Gas	-	-	***	-	-	-
Rest houses	**	***	-	-	-	-

 Legend: - no involvement

The overall state of development of economic infrastructure and communication is satisfactory, though there is scope for improvement in all respects. The major development issues are:

• Most roads are shingled and need improvement.
• More link roads are required to interconnect the villages.
• The vehicles operating in the area are not enough to meet demand. More buses and wagons are needed. Still more pressing is the need for improving the standard of transport services; provide better vehicles, stop overloading, increase frequency of services, etc.
• The Sibi airport needs to be re-activated.
• Electricity needs to be provided to more villages. Load-shedding is too frequent, and needs to be cut.
• Gas needs to be supplied to villages around Sibi town.
• Rest houses are concentrated in Sibi town and Harnai town. More rest houses are needed in these places, at tehsil headquarters, and other suitable places.
• Accommodation, guest houses and hotels, need to be provided for women visiting Sibi town and Harnai town.
• A comprehensive study of the situation with respect to women's mobility needs to be undertaken, followed by appropriate transport arrangements for them.

7.1  Water Supply

Main sources of water for household and commercial use are piped water (delivered to consumers through pipes and community tanks), perennial streams, and springs (in Harnai area only). The relative contribution of these sources to total water supply could not be ascertained. Considering that the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) has provided only 6,042 domestic connections, about 35 percent of the district households in 1995, while each person approximately gets only ten gallons a day, the gap between clean water requirements and availability is large. Clean drinking water is a scarce commodity even in the localities served by PHED schemes. The situation in far lying places is reported to be much worse.

7.1.1 Drinking Water

The district has nineteen drinking, or potable, water schemes; three of which are in trial stage. These schemes serve Sibi town, Harnai Town and eighteen other localities. Water is provided to 6,042 domestic and 95 commercial consumers. The number of persons benefiting from these schemes is stated to be 156,200 (1995-96), which must be incorrect (probably due to double counting) as this number is more than the Sibi district’s estimated 1995 population of 143,589. Even otherwise it is common knowledge that the number of beneficiaries is not that large. To arrive at a more reliable estimate of beneficiaries the number of domestic connections appears to be a better basis. The total number of domestic connections is 6,042, which is 35 percent of the district's total households estimated to be 17,500 for 1995. Sibi town gets water for three hours a day; 1.5 hour each in the morning and the evening. The town has no other major source of water. Consequently a crisis like situation with respect to water supply develops if there is a long breakdown of electricity and/or pumping station. A number of consumers have installed machines on pipe lines to suck in and store large quantity of water at the expense of others.

In rural areas, where PHED schemes are not available, springs, ponds, wells, hand pumps, etc are the chief sources of drinking water. Normally, women fetch water if the source is within or close to the village. In case the water source is far away, then men fetch it. To carry large quantities of water, the use of donkeys is common. Tyres are used as water containers, which are carried on donkey's back.

A gradual expansion of the potable water supply system is going on. For 1996-97 the PHED have a scheme to install a tube well in Gola Khan area at the cost of Rs. 1.27 million. This scheme will, however, improve the situation only a little.

A huge project with funding from Asian Development Bank is expected to be launched to improve Sibi town's drinking water supply situation. The proposed scheme envisages to increase the town's water supply capacity from two to four cubic feet per second. This should bring substantial relief to the beneficiaries concerned.

In addition to PHED, the Local Government Department is also engaged in drinking water supply improvement work. It concentrates on rural areas where wells and water storage tanks have been built by this Department.

7.1.2 Drinking Water Supply Administration

All drinking water supply schemes are administered by the PHED. The latter is responsible for the system's operation and maintenance and also for collection of water charges from the consumers. It has, however, had no success yet in collection of water charges from domestic consumers because of the consumers’ collective resistance and politicisation of the issue. Public’s participation in management of water supply schemes is non-existent. Efforts to pass on operation and management of water supply schemes to the beneficiaries have not been fruitful yet.

7.1.3 Ground water

Most of the ground water in the district is unfit for drinking, as it is saline. This is a major hindrance in the efforts to improve potable water supply. More reliance on available canal water is not possible, as all water has been allocated and no water user would be willing to give up part of his quota.

7.1.4 Sanitation

The sanitation situation is bad in urban as well as rural areas. The roads and streets in Sibi town, which is the district as well as the divisional headquarters, are full of litter and most of the drains are choked.

The Sibi Municipal Committee has about 30-35 sanitation workers and a few tractors for street cleaning and garbage collection and disposal. The staff is, however, considered inadequate to cope with the work, and, as local reports go, most of the sanitation workers do not perform the duty they are paid for.

In the villages a similar situation is seen. There are no formal arrangements for waste collection and disposal. People have dug pits insides their compounds to deposit waste water, while garbage is just thrown on garbage heaps outside.

7.1.5 Public Health Engineering Department

The PHED of Sibi is linked to the one in Ziarat sub-Division. Its organisational chart is given below:

x minor involvement

xx substantial involvement

xxx major involvement

7.1.7 Conclusion and major Development Issues

The overall situation in respect of social infrastructure is not quite satisfactory. The bulk of the population does not have access to clean drinking water. The localities which do have potable water schemes, do not get enough water to meet their normal needs. Water scarcity, both for drinking and irrigation, is stated to be one of the major causes of acceleration in rural-urban migration. Accordingly, improvement in drinking water supply is on top of the people’s list of demands.

The sanitation situation is bad and getting worse. The existing arrangements are inadequate to cope with the problem. The problem is not only that of inadequate manpower and money, but also of management of the concerned services. This situation of sanitation is affecting the health of the people adversely. There is a need to launch a concerted drive to solve this problem.

7.2  Health.

7.2.1 Introduction

By the overall provincial standard, the health situation in Sibi district is on the whole satisfactory, but there is much room for improvement. Taking a global view of the district, the following picture emerges.

The nutrition level of the bulk of the population is low and the morbidity rate is high. The coverage by health care facilities is moderate on the whole, but for women they are not in proportion to their needs and share in the total population. The quality of health services leaves much to be desired. People, in general, are not very hygienic and will go to a doctor only when forced by illness.

For complicated health problems, e.g. surgery facilities are not available in Sibi, well-to-do people go to Quetta. Of the deficiencies in the health sector, the people most suffering are the rural people, especially the women. The sufferings of women are heightened further by social factors. They will only receive their husbands' attention for medical help when the problem has become acute.

7.2.2 Health System

The health system comprises government health services, private medical practitioners; non-qualified doctors and Hakeems and NGOs. The traditional system of spiritual healing is very much in practice, but sufficient information on this system is not available.

Government health services comprise a total of 48 medical units of different kinds (see table). These units have a total sanctioned staff of 472 (filled up posts are 442), and 214 beds. The number of sanctioned posts of doctors is 51, but only 36 have been filled.

There are twelve qualified private medical practitioners in the district. Three of them are full-time private doctors. The other nine are government doctors who have a private practice during evening hours.

There are also Hakeems and homeopath doctors. Their exact number is not known, but would be around one dozen. Most of them live in urban centres or big villages of the district.

There are over twenty NGOs in the district in the health sector. Their activities include providing ambulance service, organisation of blood banks, and mother and child health care.

7.2.3    Major Diseases Incidence
Major diseases in the district are diarrhoea, malaria, gastro-enteritis and respiratory disorders. Information on the incidence of these diseases, i.e. their proportion in the annual total cases dealt with by medical units, is not available.

7.2.4 Special Health Services

The special health services comprise: five MCHs, one TBC, and normal facilities for vaccination at hospitals.

7.2.5 Administration of Health Services

The health services in the district are provided under the authority of the District Health Officer (DHO). The Health Department's staff comprises 41 doctors, 124 para-medical staff and 231 other staff.

7.2.6 GO/NGO/Private Enterprise, etc involvement in Water Development.

Provincial government is the major actor in the health sector. Even among the private practitioners, the presence of government doctors (authorised to do private practice) is quite prominent. Of late, NGOs have become prominent participants in this sector.
 

Service	Local Govt:	Prov Govt:	Fed: Govt:	NGO	InternDonor	Private Entr.
Hospitals	-	xxx	-	-	-	-
Civil Dispensaries	-	xxx	-	-	-	-
Mobile Dispensary	-	xxx	-	-	-	-
Basic Health Units	-	xxx	-	-	-	-
Rural Health Units	-	xxx	-	-	-	-
MCH Centre	-	xxx	-	-	-	-
EPI Centre	-	xxx	-	-	-	-
TB Clinic	-	xxx	-	-	-	-
Family Planning Clinic	-	xxx	-	x	-	-
Private Clinic	-	-	-	-	-	xxx
Homeopathic Clinic	-	-	-	-	-	xxx
Hakeem/Local Medical Practitioner	-	-	-	-	-	xxx
Chemists	-	-	-	-	-	xxx

  Legend: - no involvement

x minor involvement

xx substantial involvement

xxx major involvement

7.2.7 Conclusion and major Development Issue

The health coverage as indicated by the number of medical units and doctors is satisfactory. In Sibi town, the situation can be described as good. However, the quality of medical services in the public sector is, however, not good. Patients do not get proper attention, medicines are in short supply, surgical facilities are inadequate, hygiene leaves much to be desired, etc. There is a need to open more dispensaries and basic health units in rural Sibi. Health facilities for women are completely inadequate. These need to be expanded and improved. But the most important issue is that of proper maintenance and operation of existing facilities.

7.3  Education

7.3.1 Introduction

The education sector has registered moderate expansion in recent years. The number of schools is increasing at a steady pace. The number of students is also increasing, though not as strongly as it should. Performance of the public sector education system has been, as reports go, rather disappointing. Therefore, while the people want more schools to be established at appropriate places, they equally strongly emphasise the need for making a better use of the existing ones. Many of these have been allegedly established just for making political and monetary gains and have not even been used yet.

The total number of students from primary to degree level increased from 17,432 in 1991-92 to 19,698 (or by 13 percent) in 1994-95. The number of enrolled boys increased by 2 percent, while the number of girls increased by 53 percent. Relevant summary statistics are given below:

Level percent increase/decrease in enrolment 1991-96

Male Female

• Primary (-) 5.31 47.73
• Middle and high 33.00 69.05
• Inter and degree 49.00 94.50
• All levels 2.02 52.72

During 1991-1995, seven new primary schools for boys and as many as 34 for girls were established. The number of high schools for boys and girls increased with two and one respectively. Comparative data on the number of government educational institutions in 1991-92 and 1994-95, and data on the number of male and female teachers in 1994-95 are given below:

Level Year Number of Teachers In

Institutions For: 1994-95 (Male - Female)

Male Female

Primary 1991-92 163 26 ---

1994-95 170 60 349

Middle 1991-92 12 5 ---

1994-95 12 4 220

High 1991-92 12 4 ---

1994-95 14 5 410

Intermediate1991-92 1 1 ---

1994-95 1 1 10

Degree 1991-92 1 1 ---

1994-95 1 1 56

Source: BEMIS

The district has three private middle schools and two private high schools. Their enrolment is 475 and 686, with 30 and 25 teachers respectively. In these schools English is the language of instruction and they are regarded to be much better than government schools.

The period of four years between 1991-95 is rather too short for objective appraisal of progress of school level educational facilities. The information available, however, suggests that most of the expansion in school level facilities took place in the post 1985 period, in the wake of the country-wide drive to reach the goal of universal primary education by the year 2000. This goal is as yet not in sight in Sibi district.

7.2.3    Government School System
The government school system is identical throughout Balochistan and comprises the following type of schools, all of which except the Mohalla school, exist in Sibi district.

1. Primary Schools for Boys Single and multi teachers schools

2. Primary schools for Girls "

3. Mosque schools (mixed) "

4. Middle schools for Boys Multi teachers schools

5. Middle schools for Girls "

6. High schools for Boys "

7. High schools for Girls "

8. Model High schools for Boys in Dist. HQ "

9. Model High schools for Girls in Dist. HQ "

10. Community Model schools (mixed) Female multi teachers schools

11. Home/Mohalla schools Single teachers schools

12. Fellowship schools for only girls (Urban/Rural)

7.3.3 Primary Schools

Primary schools are at the lowest tier in the education pyramid. They provide schooling for five years (class 1-5). The child is taught Urdu, arithmetic and general knowledge. Islamyat is taught as a compulsory subject to all Muslim pupils at primary and higher level. The staff of a typical primary school consists of one headmaster or headmistress and one Junior Vernacular Teacher (JVT). The district has 230 primary schools, 170 for boys and 60 for girls. The total number of teachers is 349 (1994-95).

7.3.4 Vocational Training

The Small Industries Development Board runs a wood work training centre. The district could use more of these training centres on various subjects.

7.3.5 Middle Schools

Middle school comprises eight classes (1 to 8) including the primary sectors. The staff for a middle school comprises: a headmaster or headmistress, a secondary school teacher, a junior English teacher, a junior Arabic teacher, a drawing master, a physical training instructor, a Mualimul - Quran and a junior vernacular teacher.

The district has 19 middle schools, including seven schools for girls. Three middle schools, included in the above total, are privately run, and all three are for girls only.

7.3.6 High Schools

High school comprises 10 classes (1 to 10) with primary and middle sections included. Humanities and Science are taught at this level. The staff for each school comprises: one headmaster or headmistress, a secondary school teacher (general science), a senior Arabic teacher, a junior English teacher, a junior Arabic teacher, a drawing master, a physical training instructor, a Mualimul - Quran and a junior vernacular teacher.

The total number of high schools is twenty one, fourteen for boys and seven for girls. All but two (which are in private sector and are for girls), are government schools. One high school (the Divisional Public School) has a co-education system.

7.3.7 Intermediate Colleges

The district has one intermediate college for boys and one for girls. In 1994-95 enrolment was 857 boys and 96 girls. In these colleges, students are admitted to pre-medical, pre-engineering and humanities classes.

7.3.8 Conclusion and major Development Issues

Despite huge public expenditure during the last ten years or so, the education sector's performance has been far from satisfactory. School enrolment is low, drop-out rate is high, and standard of teaching is poor.

Primary schools are inappropriately located; too many at some places, and too few or none at other places. According to the Education Department's own report there are 46 primary schools without students, while another 26 primary schools have less than eleven students each. The actual number of schools of this category is believed to be much more. Great disappointment is expressed by the people about the whole system of education in public sector in the district.

Performance of the private schools is much better than that of the public sector schools. But private schools are too few in number, and too expensive for common people.

The need for a thorough investigation into the performance of government run schools is stressed by the people in the area. There is a need to verify the actual existence of schools, check their enrolment, evaluate the performance of teachers, close the schools which are inappropriately located, establish schools where they are needed, fully accommodate the needs for girls’ schools, provide proper staff and buildings and improve discipline.

High school and higher education facilities (at intermediate and degree level) are inadequate both for boys and girls. The latter's needs are neglected at every level.

Vocational education and training is in great demand in the district but the existing facilities are grossly inadequate. A polytechnic college need be established at Sibi town.

7.4 Sports

All major sports, cricket, hockey, football, volleyball etc, are played in Sibi district. Cricket is the most popular. Teams from Sibi participate in all major tournaments in Balochistan and visit various places in and outside the province for friendly matches. Youngsters in Sibi town as well as rural areas are very fond of sports. Club sports activity is, however, concentrated in Sibi town where there are several clubs. A few formal, and a larger number of informal play fields exist in the district. In fact, every street and most open spaces in the close proximity of urban and rural centres are used by youngsters for sports.

Beside a sports complex of the army, there are a big stadium, three regular cricket grounds, nine other play grounds, and a big recreational park in Sibi town. In Sibi town there are also a few snooker clubs. Cards, carom board, chess, etc are also played, but not on a large scale. For women there are two purdah clubs, but nothing is known about their involvement in sports. Girls’ schools and colleges provide limited sports facilities for girls.

Dog fights and also cock fights are a common sight. The bets can sometimes be of large amounts. Less frequently, but very popular is horse racing.

7.4.2 GO/NGO/Private Enterprise, etc. involvement in Sports Development
 

	Loc. Govt.	Prov. Govt.	Fed. Govt.	NGO	Private	Internat. Donor
Infrastructure	xx	xxx	-	x	-
Financing	-	xxx	-	-	x	-

  Legend: - no involvement

x minor involvement

xx substantial involvement

xxx major involvement

7.4.3 Conclusion and major Development Issues

Youngsters in the district actively participate in sports of various kind. Proper sports grounds are, however, not available in the required number. All play grounds are consequently overcrowded with players. Youngsters have developed a number of play fields on their own in the outskirts of Sibi town and similarly in the outskirts of villages.

Sports facilities for women are scarce. Nobody seems to think these to be necessary for women. Appropriate sports facilities need to be provided; for girl students and for other women facilities for light indoor games need to be set up.

8. District Development Funds

9. District Development Programme

9.1 Introduction

There is no separate development programme for Sibi district. The development activities that take place in the district are initiated, financed and implemented by different agencies which act independent of each other. There is no document available putting together all relevant information on names, objectives, finances etc. of all schemes in a given sector in the district at a given time. Information collected in one place on the names of all on-going development schemes in private and public sectors, in the district is even not available. The departments are not aware of each other’s work. For example, the C&W Department does not know about the road constructed by local bodies or with MPA / MNA grants or by other organisations. Worse still, the development departments cannot provide complete and correct data on development funds and development outlays. It is not, therefore, possible to give accurate estimates of the district income and expenditures (revenue and expenditures) and their composition. Consequently mainly a descriptive account of the district development programs is presented.

The development activities going on in the district are of the following six types:

i. Community initiated development activities.

ii. Indigenous NGO initiated development activities.

iii. Religion based development activities.

iv. Local government initiated development activities.

v. Provincial government initiated development activities.

vi. Federal government initiated development activities.

The organisations above are not listed in order of their contribution to Sibi’s development. They will be discussed in this order though, as this will help assess to what extend development initiatives are initiated bottom-up.

Community initiated development activities (CIDA)

In Sibi district, community initiated development activities are of two types:

1.    Development of infrastructure and services of common interest, such as water courses, wells, paths, etc.; and

2.    Social welfare services for a specific community. The beneficiaries are the particular communities that developed the services or facilities concerned. No documentation is available on the scale of CIDA, their output, and financial size. The most prominent activity of this type is that of development and maintenance of irrigation system, paths, etc.

Indigenous NGO initiated development activities
There are 23 registered NGOs in Sibi district, and several more un-registered NGOs. Their activities are, strictly speaking, not development focused, but can be considered as development activities, as they contribute to human development and social welfare. No information is available regarding their development expenditure and size and sources of income. The development outlays are however, small.

Religious based development activities

This category of development activities is confined mainly to the education sector. Most mosques provide facilities for religious education, and a number of "makatibs" (religious schools) exist. Non-Muslims, too, have developed similar facilities for their respective communities. These activities have development implications, but they are not strictly speaking development activities. No data is available on their number and financial outlay. Nor is any information available about activities initiated by religious groups, that could be termed as ‘development’.

Local Government

The local government bodies, comprising union councils, town committee (Harnai), municipal committee (Sibi) and the district council, undertake development activities oriented to facilitate living and working condition and to contribute to productive activities in their respective localities. These activities mainly comprise: access roads and path construction, water supply; irrigation improvement, soil and land conservation, sanitation improvement, etc. The thirteen union councils in the Sibi district completed ninety development schemes during 1991-95 at total cost of Rs. 2.6 million. Money was provided by the Local Government and Rural Development Department. The union councils’ role in the activities is restricted to development needs identification and supervision of implementation of development work.

Provincial Government

Provincial government is responsible for providing of funds and directing of development of the district. Its activities embrace all productive sectors, social services and infrastructure described in chapters 5-8. Implementation of programmes is carried out by the line departments in the district. Though a separate development program for the district is not prepared, the district’s share in the province’s development programmes is ascertained through the line departments’ annual development programs. Each department annually communicates its development allocation and specific schemes.

Attempts were made to collect data on development allocation of each department for the period 1991-92 to 1996-97. The required data, however, did not come available.

Federal Government

The Federal government’s involvement in the district’s development is limited to the construction of highways, telecommunication and power and gas supply. An important on-going activity is the road linking Karachi with Punjab through Sibi district.

9.2 Government Expenditure

Funds for the district’s development expenditure are provided by the federal government, provincial government and by the local bodies themselves. However, the relevant data is not available.

9.3 Problems and Bottlenecks for Development

A quantitative measure is available neither of the district’s financial resources nor of its actual and required development and non-development expenditure. Analysis of the district’s productive and other sectors in chapters 5-7, and discussions with officers of various departments and informed local people, however, suggest that the district’s income falls much short of its needs. All departments, especially the local bodies, have complained of lack of funds for development activities. For example the agriculture department has a large staff, but little money for research and extension activities, as a result of which the wisdom of keeping a large number of idle staff becomes questionable. The same is the case with other development departments.

Similarly, the district’s local bodies are unable to carry out their functions properly because of lack of funds. At times, the staff even has to go without salary for months and months. While there is overall shortage of finances, the problem of inappropriate, rather irrational, allocation as between non-developmental activities and development activities is equally serious. The general pattern is that a disproportionately large part of the budget is reserved for salaries and contingencies and too small a part for logistics and inputs for development work. On the whole, the funds allocation policy is not development oriented and that explains the inadequacy of funds and, more particularly, the lack of balance between routine recurrent expenditure and development expenditure

10. The District in Comparison to its Division

Sibi district compares favourably with the other three districts of Sibi division in several respects. Some selected indicators of the district’s present state and prospects of development compared to the rest of Sibi division are presented and discussed as follows.

The district ranks second in the division in respect of total area, population, and density. Its population growth is identical to that of the other three districts.

Its cultivated area accounts for 56 percent of the division’s total. It has more potential arable area (about 97,000 hectares) than any other district in the division. Put in figures, Sibi’s potential arable area is 61 percent of the division’s total. The agriculture development prospects, thus, seem to be quite substantial.

In terms of total value of agricultural production, Sibi occupies the first position in the division, with a 47 percent share. However, in terms of value per capita it ranks second after Ziarat district. In 1994-95, the per capita agriculture production was Rs. 21,000 in Ziarat and Rs. 10,000 in Sibi. The difference is striking and is chiefly explained by the dominance of high value crops in Ziarat’s cropping pattern.

In terms of agriculture value per cultivated hectare, Sibi district falls behind Ziarat and Kohlu. The figures are: Ziarat Rs. 283.4 thousand, Kohlu Rs. 75.8 thousand, and Sibi Rs. 58.2 thousand per hectare. The same comparative picture emerges in respect of average value per cultivated hectare. Sibi ranks third in the division with only Rs. 58,000, as compared with Ziarat’s Rs. 283,000 and Kohlu’s Rs. 76,000. A host of factors, natural as well as managerial, explain Sibi’s low performance in value productivity per hectare. Water, soils, and climate are the chief explanatory factors. Considering, however, that Sibi has a large potential arable area, the disadvantages in respect of value productivity per unit of land can be minimised or offset by bringing under plough more area.

In respect of the number of health units, Sibi is third in the division, but it ranks first in respect of population per bed. Sibi’s advantage over the other districts is quite distinct in respect of roads and communication. It is connected with the rest of the country through railways and roads. Within the district, most of the settlements can be reached through roads. The district accounts for 31 percent of the metalled roads and 32 percent of the shingle roads of the division which is more or less proportional to its share in total area and population. But it enjoys the additional advantage of railways, and transport facilities.

One of the greatest advantages of Sibi district over the other three districts in Sibi division lies in its higher degree of urbanisation. The process of urbanisation is conducive to the overall development process, because of its favourable impact on the population’s education and health situation, women’s access to these facilities, socio - economic mobility, etc.

11. The Division In Comparison To Balochistan

Sibi Division’s overall situation is better than that of Balochistan taken as a whole. The division accounts for about eight percent of the province’s total geographical area, and six percent of the population. Some relevant indicators that need to be studied in the context of the division’s share in area and population are presented below.

Population density in Sibi division is about the same as in the province. However, the division’s growth rate is substantially less, 2.8 percent as compared to 3.9 percent for the province. This is to be considered a plus point for the division.

The division has only five percent of the province’s total cultivated area, which is not in proportion to its share in total geographic area and population of the province. Another unfavourable comparison is in respect of potential arable area. Sibi’s share is only 2.5 percent. It is, however, gratifying that Sibi division’s share in the province’s agricultural production value is 6.4 percent, which is higher than its share in cultivated area (5 percent). This indicates that the agricultural sector of the division compares favourably with the province in general with respect to output.

The most favourable comparisons are found for the per capita value of agricultural production and for the value of agriculture production per hectare. Sibi division’s figures are 39 percent and 100 percent higher respectively in comparison to the province. The division’s lead over the province is still more eye catching in respect of average food value per hectare. Put in figures, it is higher by 285 percent.

The division’s share in health units is more than proportionate to its population. It has 15 percent of the province’s health units, although its share in population is 6.1 percent but the division has more population (3355) per bed as compared to the provincial average (1776).

In respect of metalled roads it compares quite favourably with the province. Its share is 13 percent. Its share in shingle roads is 8 percent, which is in line with the share in area and population.

Thus as indicated by the quantitative indicators given above, field observations and impressionistic data, Sibi division compares favourably with the province in most respects. On the whole, its development index would be a little higher than of the province.

12. Conclusions: Potentials and Constraints

Sibi district’s overall state of development is comparable to and in certain respects better then Balochistan taken in general. It has a good human resource base which could be qualitatively improved within a short period by better management of existing educational services. Its land under plough is small, but it is endowed with a large potential arable area. The industrial sector has not made much head way during the last 50 years, but the prospects of development are good. It has a good network of roads and railways. The social infrastructure is weak, but quick improvements are possible. Thus, briefly speaking the district has made progress in most spheres, the achieved level is, however, far short of what was possible, but prospects of faster development in future are quite bright.

Major constraints, apart from natural resource factor which is taken as given, the district’s development is hampered by:

• Lack of coordination among government departments and also government and non-government agencies;
• Insufficient funds for development activities;
• Lack of funds with local bodies, especially at union council level;
• Lack of work motivation among public sector functionaries;
• Stereotype approach to development i.e. lack of bottom-up planning.

For a clearer picture of the district’s state of development and its potentials and constraints, the main conclusions of the previous chapters are presented below.

Land Resources

The district’s potential area available for cultivation is 85,316 hectares, but only 25,500 hectares are brought under plough, due to scarcity of irrigation schemes. Increases in irrigation facilities already identified by the irrigation department, can help increase the cultivated area by 50 percent in the next five to ten years, and possibilities for further development exist too. There are also vast unexplored areas which need be located, surveyed, and developed.

Demography and Housing

The district’s total population is estimated to be close to 145,000 (1995) people, of which only 30 percent is economically active. Women’s participation in economic activity is substantial, but is not recognised in official statistics.

The overall state of housing, energy, civic facilities, environment, etc. is not good. It is in fact getting worse. Rural-urban migration is increasing fast and this is a positive development, as it will help facilitate the tasks of human resource development, improvement in living condition, quality of life, and more particularly the emancipation of women. The general tendency is to migrate to or near Sibi town. Harani town is also receiving migrants from rural areas. The ongoing convergence of a widely scattered population to a few places is conducive to faster development at low cost.

Social Organisation

The social organisation in Sibi has been undergoing a slow transformation, but its overall character is largely the same as decades ago. No improvement has taken place in the role, position, and status of women. The system of vulvar is still in vogue. Child labour is rampant and increasing.

Positive developments are the softening of parents’ attitude towards girls’ formal education; the rising trend towards a nuclear family, the fact that people are now more religious than before, the decline in influence of jirga and the general awareness among the younger people of the need to break away from the tribal and orthodox system. This should evoke favourable responses to development incentives and the call for gender equality when the younger generation comes at the helm of affairs.

Government Organisation

The district has a full-fledged government organisation dealing with all administrative and developmental affairs. On the whole, Sibi is a peaceful district and the district’s administration has been effectively controlling the law and order situation. Minority groups, Muslims and non-Muslims, live in a fear free environment. There is, however, lack of coordination between provincial government departments, the federal government organisations, local bodies and NGOs. Besides, there have been problems in caused by interventions of MPAs, MNAs senators etc. While the line departments and local bodies have been starved of funds, in the recent past, political representatives have been given millions of rupees which mostly have been spent very unproductively.

There is a need to establish close working relations between all government and non-government organisations. The deputy commissioner and the chairman of district council should be the central figures in the set up. They should be able to report, at any time, what is going on in which sector, in the district, what are the district’s development problems, priorities, etc.

Productive Sector

Agriculture, livestock and forestry are the major commodity producing sectors of the district. The industrial sector is small, but has good prospects at small scale level.

The agriculture sector has good development prospects to which end increase in irrigation, introduction of high value crops, improved agricultural inputs and practices, and land development can make a substantial contribution. More money is needed for research and extension services. The water problem of the model agricultural farm should be solved, or the farm should be closed. Reforestation is needed on a much larger scale. The livestock department needs particular attention in view of the importance of livestock in the district’s economy.

Economic Infrastructure and Communication

The district has railways, and a good net work of trunk and link roads. The public transport situation within the district is not good. Overloading is common. The worst sufferers are women, who have to travel in great discomfort.

On the whole, in respect of economic infrastructure and communication this district compares favourably with Balochistan taken in general. The infrastructure is sufficient to bear a much expanded production than now. But the need for improvements is there. These include: metalling of roads; more link roads in villages, more and better vehicles for passengers, and special provisions for woman passengers.

Social Infrastructure

Education : Government education services in the district are widely criticised for their inefficiency and corruption. Schools have been built in large number at inappropriate places. Student enrolment is low. Many schools do not have a teacher. There are schools without a roof. Female education is badly neglected. Schools for girls are not properly located. Higher education facilities are inadequate. In short, the education sector is in a state of disarray. In addition to the need for more educational units, there is also a need to take measures for improving the efficiency of the existing institutions. Education of girls should be given more attention. Appropriate facilities should be provided for vocational education.

Health: The health services performance is better than that of education. Though more dispensaries and basic health units are needed, priority should be given to a more efficient functioning of the existing medical units.

Concluding Note

The district is full of opportunities for development, to which end financial as well as managerial improvements are needed. Almost all development schemes that take place in the district, are subservient to a wider development plan at provincial level. There is a need to prepare Sibi district specific development plans as well. Alongside the developments planned as a part of the wider objective of Balochistan’s development, special development plans for Sibi district should also be made, to ensure that small regions will not be neglected. These plans should be developed and implemented with the population’s involvement. The local bodies and government line departments should be motivated to work hand in hand with the district’s common people for the district’s development.

1990: Pakistan Census of Agriculture, 1990

Note: The averages in column b, c, d apply to only the households which reported livestock holdings. The average in column (e), applies to all households in general; viz; livestock owners plus those not reporting any livestock.

D.I.L. Unit stands for Disease Investigation Laboratory Units.

Source: C & W Department, Sibi.