CM Sindh: Opp proposals to
be incorporated in LB Bill

KARACHI (APP): Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that the points of the Local Government law agreed by Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Shah with the Opposition parties law would be implemented in letter and spirit.
The Chief Minister was presiding over a cabinet meeting here at CM House on Wednesday. He said that we would incorporate the suggestions of the Opposition, Jamaat Islami, PSP and other parties in the Local Bodies law as has been agreed by Minister for Local Government in his talks with them.
The Chief Minister constituted a committee under Minister Local Government Syed Nasir Shah, Minister Labour Saeed Ghani, Minister Parliamentary Affairs Mukesh Chawla, Minister of Irrigation Jam Khan Shoro and Advisor law Murtaza Wahab to discuss the proposal given by the Opposition parties and incorporate them into the law and present in the assembly for approval.
The cabinet meeting was attended by all the provincial ministers, Advisors, Special Assistants, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, PSCM Fayaz Jatoi, Chairman P&D Hassan Naqvi and other concerned officers.
The provincial cabinet approved a procurement target of 1.4 MT of wheat at a support price of Rs 2,200 per 40 kg bag for which Rs 70 billion were approved.
The Food Department was allowed to purchase Bardana to the extent of assigned target at the ratio of 90 percent P.P. Bags and 10 percent jute bags if jute bags are available in the market.
The Chief Minister directed the Food Department to set up their centers for procurement in the last week of February so that procurement could be started right from March 1. “We are offering better support price; therefore its benefit must pass on to the growers,” he said.
The cabinet after thorough discussion and deliberations, declared Bundal and Buddo Islands as `Protected Forests’ and directed the Forest department to notify the decision.
The cabinet approved an amount of Rs 91,5230,000 to provide compensation for the shops of Cooperative Market and Victoria Center which were reduced to ashes in a fire that erupted on November 14, 2021. The cabinet expressed solidarity with the shopkeepers and said that with the payment of compensation they would be able to start their business afresh.
It was proposed to the Industries Department to talk to the shopkeepers to convince them to ensure their shops because the fire eruption cases have been taking place in markets.
The cabinet also directed the Chief Secretary to implement the decisions of the Supreme Court in respect of Karachi Port Trust Housing Society.
The cabinet also directed senior member Board of Revenue to protect the lands of the Malir Expressway so that no encroacher could dare to grab them.
The Home Department told the cabinet that 2,113 posts of Grade BS-5 to BS-15, including 1,355 constables were vacant in Prisons. Due to shortage of staff, the Prisons were facing serious problems.
It was pointed out that the provincial cabinet in its meeting held on November 21, 2019 had approved IBA Sukkur as testing agency for recruitment but IBA Sukkur has shown inability to conduct body measurement and running tests.
The cabinet directed the Home Department to hire services of any other testing service through competitive bidding process on the pattern as has been done by the Sindh police.
The cabinet was told that the government has constructed government Polytechnic Institute Azam Basti in 2017 and now the institute was at the launching stage for which Rs 200 million were required, apart from recruitment of teaching staff.
The cabinet approved a proposal to hand over the institute to SZABIST to operate it on PPP mode so that best technical education could be imparted to the students.
The Energy Department told the meeting that the Matiari-Lahore High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Transmission Line Project having designed capacity of 4000MW and line length of 878km was one of the most important energy projects in Pakistan and was on priority list of CPEC Projects. The project was started on December 01, 2018 and the Commercial Operations Date (COD) was achieved on September 01, 2021 having a Project Cost of $ 1.6 billion. A portion of the Transmission Line is passing through the territory of Sindh, therefore the cabinet approved giving it right of way. The cabinet approved a request of the Home Department to provide an ambulance to Frontier Constabulary (FC).