The Sindh cabinet met on Monday with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in chair, and approved the breastfeeding law to ensure breastfeeding of children for three years, and the procurement of 60 ambulances, including 30 mobile medical vans. The cabinet discussed and approved the Sindh Protection and Promotion of Breastfeeding and Young Child Nutrition Act 2023. Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho said that it was expedient to ensure safe and adequate nutrition for infants and young children up to the age of 36 months by promoting, protecting and supporting breastfeeding, promoting healthy diets to prevent obesity and non-communicable diseases, and regulating the marketing and promotion of designated products, including breast milk substitutes.
Under the act, the government would establish a 22-member board under the chairperson of the Sindh Assembly Standing Committee on Health. The functions of the board include framing regulations, advising standards of designated products and proposing guidelines to the government to establish an effective monitoring system for the purpose as per the WHO/UNICEF protocols.
Ambulances Dr Azra said that there was a need for the procurement of 60 ambulances, including 30 mobile medical vans and five mobile laboratories, for which Rs2 billion was required. It was pointed out that mobile medical units would be utilised in settings where medical facilities were limited or inaccessible in Sindh.
The mobile laboratory would be used in disease outbreak investigation, rapid diagnostic testing, surveillance and monitoring, environmental testing, and support for field hospitals and medical teams. The ambulances would be included in the fleet of the Rescue 1122 ambulance service. The cabinet approved the request and funds for the purpose.
Specialist cadre Dr Azra said that there was a sanctioned strength of 1,975 specialist cadre doctors (BS-18), against which only 947 were working and 1,028 were vacant in Sindh. She added that her department had sent a requisition of 1,096 posts of specialist cadre doctors (BS-18) to the Sindh Public Service Commission, which recommended filling only 68 posts, so 1,028 posts were still vacant.
The cabinet was told that at present 2,240 medical officers of BS-17 post-graduated in different specialities. The services of those medical officers of BS-17 could be utilised as specialists by posting them against the post of specialist (BS-18) by making them a post of specialist as floating posts of BS-17/18.
The minister said that the medical officers (BS-17) having postgraduate degrees in the relevant field could be posted against the posts of special cadre BS-18 to tackle the shortage of doctors for the smooth running of hospitals in the province. The cabinet approved the proposal and directed the health department to promote the postgraduate doctors who have completed their length of service, and make necessary changes in the recruitment rules so that they could be posted against the specialist cadre in BS-18.
Hindu marriage act Minister for Minorities Affairs Gianchand Israni presented a draft act in the cabinet. He said that the act was meant to provide a formal process for the registration of marriage of Hindus. The cabinet pointed out that the court has given guidelines for the marriage act, so despite approving the act in principle, the advisory group constituted a committee to update the law in accordance with the court’s guidelines. The committee comprises Excise & Taxation Minister Mukesh Chawla, the minister for minorities affairs, CM’s law adviser Barrister Murtaza Wahab and Advocate General Hassan Akbar.
500 buses Transport Minister Sharjeel Memon briefed the cabinet through videoconferencing that his department would induct 500 more buses in the Peoples Bus Service fleet to facilitate the poor segment of society. Memon said that 13,000 to 15,000 buses were required to meet the transport requirement of the city. He added that 1,039 buses of Peoples Bus Service were plying the roads, but still there was a shortfall of 8,961 buses.
Electric taxis The transport minister presented another proposal of 200 electric taxis for Karachi, of which 50 would operate as pink taxis for female passengers. The cabinet told the transport department to prepare the feasibility report of the buses and taxis, and present the same to the planning & development department for further action.