The monga has forced the victims to look for jobs elsewhere. They are coming to the capital in a desperate bid to survive. But the prospects of these people getting jobs in the capital are bleak as it is already overcrowded with poor people coming from the rural areas.

It is definitely an unhealthy sigh for the rural economy, It is also a pointer to the fact that precious little has so far been done to help the people in extreme distress in the northern districts. The parliamentary standing committee on agriculture ministry recommended only a few day ago that the government launch an immediate rehabilitation plan for the victims of monga which usually hit them during the months of September and October. But for some inexplicable reasons the government had decided that the rehabilitation plan would be launched after the Eid. The planners have clearly overlooked the fact that the poor people have nothing at their disposal to survive till that time.

The government will have to work in basically two areas to mitigate the economic hardships of the people. First of all, a rehabilitation plan has to be implemented without further delay. The victims need emergency relief materials like food and medicines and also agricultural inputs to pick up the threads of their battered lives. Secondly, the situation arising out of the town-ward movement of the poor people has to be handled efficiently. Obviously, the answer lies in creating employment opportunities in the areas which are still left out of all types of development activities. The ''pockets of poverty'' must receive preferential treatment in the government''s rural development scheme.