Karachi, August 20, 2020 (PPI-OT): Sindh Cabinet, taking an important decision on Thursday, approved carving out Keamari district from District West, Karachi and directed the Board Of Revenue (BoR) to submit a detailed proposal for creation of more districts in the province which had more population or areas. This he said while presiding over a cabinet meeting here at CM House.
The meeting was attended by all provincial ministers, advisors, chief secretary Mumtaz Shah and officers. The cabinet was told that presently, district West had seven sub-divisions that included Manghopir, SITE, Baldia, Orangi, Mominabad, Harbor and Mauripur besides having seven circles, nine Tapas and 23 Dehs with a population of 3,914,757 souls. It was observed that the district West was the largest in the province in terms of population.
The cabinet, after thorough discussion and deliberations, approved creation of Keamari district, out of district West comprising four sub-division, namely SITE, Baldia, Harbour and Maripur with a population of 1,833,864. The Keamari district will have three circles, five Tapas and 11 Dehs. The decision has been taken in the larger public interest.
The chief minister said that the names of districts of Karachi had peculiar such as South, East, West, Central etc. They must have proper names such as Central be named as Nazimabad district, South as Karachi. He also directed the Board of Revenue to suggest the names to rename these districts.
The chief minister, on the recommendations of some cabinet members, directed the Board of Revenue to prepare a comprehensive proposal for creation of more districts in the province. He added that the districts which had more population and vast areas should be bifurcated in two districts for the convenience of the local people.
Shah said: “Khairpur is the largest district, it must be bifurcated in two districts. I have heard that it has a constitutional protection, therefore, it could not be divided,” he said and directed the law department to explore ways and means to create one more from Khairpur.
Administrators: The cabinet was told the term of local councils was being completed on August 29, 2020, as the councils convened their first meeting on August 30, 2016 wherein the mayors, deputy mayors, chairmen and vice chairmen were sworn in.
The chief minister said that Sindh was the only government which allowed local bodies to complete their tenure. “We had allowed the mayor to work from jail but didn’t deprive people of the city of their mandate,” he said and vowed to conduct elections as soon as possible.
Shah said that the SLGA-2013 would be amended to strengthen local bodies further. Therefore, with the approval of the cabinet, he formed a sub-committee comprising Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Shah, Advisor Works Nisar Khuhro, Advisor Law Murtaza Wahab to furnish their recommendations within a month. Shah directed the committee to consult all the parties and stakeholder while framing the amendments and recommendations.
The cabinet directed the local government department to issue a notification of completion of four years terms of all local councils on August 29, 2020. The cabinet authorized to appoint administrators in the local councils for their smooth performance and seek post-facto approval from the chief minister.
Bye-election: The chief minister told the cabinet that two provincial assembly seats, Malir and Umerkot, were lying vacant after the deaths of Ali Mardan Shah and Murtaza Baloch. He added that the Election Commission of Pakistan could not conduct elections due to COVID-19 situation. “Now, they have sought the assent of the provincial government to hold the election,” he said.
The cabinet discussed and decided to request the ECP to hold free and fair elections in both the constituencies under COVID-19 SOPs. It was observed that when the SOPs would be implemented, the election process would definitely take time, therefore the election commission of Pakistan was requested to enhance polling time from eight hours to 12 hour or more.
Import of wheat: The chief minister told the cabinet that the wheat consumption in Sindh has been recorded at 5.6 MMT against which 3,8 MMT have been produced during the current crop year that showed a shortfall of 2 MMTs. Earlier, this shortfall was covered through the wheat from Punjab. But, sorry to say, the wheat of Punjab has disappeared mysteriously, therefore we would have to import the wheat.
The cabinet discussed the matter and decided to import 1.5 MMT through TCP for which secretary Finance and Secretary Food would work out a mechanism. As per the estimate given by Minister Food Hari Ram the import of a ton of wheat would cost around Rs318.
The cabinet discussing release of wheat authorized the minister to start releasing wheat from the first week of September but he felt fit he could release the wheat to flour mills/chakis before September.
DHQ Bain, Aman HCS: The health department told the cabinet that the DHQ Badin was being operated on PPP mode. The grant of Rs1.272 billion has to be released, otherwise performance of the hospitals would be affected.
The cabinet appreciated functioning the DHQ Badin to the public satisfactory. Their OPD was on the increase day by day, the patients from nearby districts go there. The cabinet approved a grant of Rs1.272 billion and directed the hospital administration to conduct its audit from an independent auditor.
Secretary Health Kazim Jatoi told the cabinet that Rs300 million was required as a grant-in-aid for Aman Healthcare Services (HCS). The cabinet appreciated the provincial government for running Aman ambulance service in the city. The cabinet approved the proposal of a Rs300 million grant. At this the chief minister directed the health secretary to ask the Aman healthcare Service authorities to induct a fleet of 50 ambulances in their fleet.
e-stamp rules: The BOR presented draft e-stamp rules, 2020. The cabinet was told that a unique identification number referred to as e-stamp Id, quick response code at the bottom of e-stamp; date and time of issuance of e-stamp; amount of stamp duty paid in the bank for the purchase of the e-stamp are being introduced. Under the rules, an ex-officio vendor/bank would issue the e-stamp upon submission of original receipt. The mechanism for verification of e-stamp, refund of cancellation of e-stamp, audit and inspection have been evolved. The cabinet approved the rules.
PRC Appellate body: The cabinet was told that issuance of domicile/PRC to non-residents issue had cropped up against which the chief minister had constituted an inquiry committee. The committee after inquiring into the matter forwarded 40 appeals from District Larkana, 26 from Kashmore.
Therefore, the directives of the chief minister, the home department proposed a five-member Sindh PRC appellate committee comprising Home Secretary as chairman, secretary law, secretary U and B, registrar ATC, Home Department, and additional secretary (judicial) as its members. The committee would hear appeals against PRC domiciles. The cabinet approved the committee.
FATF Action Plan: The Sindh Cabinet, on the recommendation of the federal government, approved amendment and introduction of new laws such as `The Sindh Waqf Properties Act, 2020’ proposed by Auqauf and Zakat department, `Sindh Seized and Freezed Facilities (hospitals and Dispensaries) Act-2019’ by health department; `Sindh Trust Act’ proposed by Industries department and `Sindh Seized And Freezed Institutions (Madaris and Schools) Act-2019 to control money laundering and terror financing as required under Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
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