By our correspondent
KARACHI: The MQM Pakistan chairman and federal education minister has said efforts have begun to address long-standing deprivation in Orangi Town, describing the launch of a new education project as evidence of the party’s commitment to education.
Speaking at a public gathering in Karachi, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said Orangi Town was a densely populated area that remained one of the poorest despite having a highly education-conscious population.
He was addressing the inauguration of a federally funded Danish School project at the historic German Ground, describing it as the first major step towards addressing the area’s grievances.
Siddiqui said the land on which the school was being built should itself be regarded as a center of learning, adding that the initiative marked the beginning of broader efforts to expand educational access in underserved communities.
Local residents reiterated longstanding demands for greater investment in the area, including the establishment of a full public university and a major government hospital in proportion to its population. They also urged the federal health authorities to help bring the area’s concerns to the center so that development gaps could be addressed.
Residents said Orangi Town had played a significant role in the country’s history and carried the legacy of migration and sacrifice, but claimed successive provincial and federal governments had shown limited interest in resolving its basic problems.
Siddiqui announced that the Danish School project was only the beginning, and said the prime minister was expected to visit the site soon to formally lay its foundation stone, which he described as a sign of federal attention towards Karachi.
