KARACHI:Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the local bodies would be strengthened by making necessary amendments in Local Government Act. This he said while talking to a delegation of Jamaat Islami led by Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman here at CM House.
The other delegation members were MPA Syed Abdul Rasheed, Muslim Parvaiz, Usama Razi, Saifuddin Ghazi and Zahid Askar. Minister for Local Government Nasir Shah and Advisor Law Murtaza Wahab also attended the meeting.
The delegation emphasized on the need of strengthening local bodies by giving them more powers. At this the chief minister said that he had already announced in his press conference that the local government law was being amended to strength local bodies in the province. He added that he had also decided to devolve operation of Sindh Solid Waste Management and Sindh Building Control Authority to divisional level.
The delegation urged the chief minister to take up the issue of census with the federal government. “The census is controversial and the grievances of Karachiites must be addressed,” he said. The chief minister told the delegation that it was he who had taken up the matter in the CCI and now the next CCI meeting was scheduled to be held on November 11 and again he would urge the forum to decide the matter.
Replying to a question of the Jamaat members, the chief minister said that he was ready to hold local bodies election, but before the election, the government had to decide and notify the census. The visiting delegation raised the issue of unemployment in the province, particularly in Karachi. At this the chief minister said that from the last four years employment opportunities have not been given to the people of the province. “These days we have identified employment opportunities from Grade BPS-1 to 4 on facility-basis,” he said and added “only people of the concerned union council would be given jobs purely on merit.”
The CM said that the job from grade BPS-5 to BPS-15 would be given through NTS and there would be no compromise on merit. The Jamaat Islami delegation presented a memorandum of their concerns and demands to the chief minister.
Newsdesk