The floods of July-August, 2010 devastated vast areas in Southern Punjab. Resettlement of villages destroyed by floods has been a major concern ever since. A major housing initiative by the name of 'Model Villages' has been launched by the Punjab Government under which rural settlements are being reconstructed at flood-ravaged sites or alternatively at totally new locations.
Punjab Skills Development Fund (PSDF) is a Section 42, not-for-profit company financed by the Government of Punjab and Department for International Development (DFID) UK. PSDF is a funding organization which acts as a financier of skills development/vocational training projects and intends to stimulate the market for skills development for the poor and the vulnerable populations of four districts of Southern Punjab (Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Lodhran and Muzaffargarh
TUSDEC has been keenly working towards the provision of employable skills to the marginalized and vulnerable communities of rural Southern Punjab. Recently, TUSDEC entered into a partnership with PSDF (Punjab Skills Development Fund) under their 'Skills Development in Six Model Villages' program. In accordance with the arrangment, TUSDEC will be imparting trainings to 120 flood affectees in construction trades of Masonry and Plumbing in two model villages of Rakh Jalwala and Bhulla Mouza Aalo Rid.
A two-member delegation of observers from DFID recently visited TUSDEC's training center at Rakh Jalwala. The delegation comprised of Tom Owen-Edmunds, Programme Manager and Vanessa Shade, Policy Officer. The visit provided an opportunity to the observers to witness the ongoing training programmes for the flood affectees of Muzaffargarh and interact with the trainees. The team of observers appreciated the endeavors by all stakeholders for undertaking the timely initiative and recognizing the needs for livelihood generation and rehabilitation. They also sought feedback from the trainees and were impressed by their motivation levels. During the visit, the delegation was accompanied by PSDF team members – Mr. Saqib Chauhan, Manager Monitoring, and Mr. Usman Khan, Communications Officer. Mr. Nabeel Asghar, Sr. Manager Projects, and Mr. Musa Dastgir Bhatti, Sr. Manager, Linkages and Communication represented TUSDEC at the occasion.
