Lawmakers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-Pakistan) have shown their strong reservations over the committee that the Sindh government has formed to look into complaints of issuing domiciles to non-residents of some districts, and alleged that the committee members are people who patronised the entire business of issuing fake domiciles in the province.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the members of the National Assembly belonging to the MQM-P said the formation of the committee by the government was contempt of court since the matter had been pending before the Sindh High Court.
They demanded of the government to form a judicial commission and stop “corrupt practices” that had been going on in Sindh for the past several years. The MNAs said the government’s committee was controversial because its members were involved in issuing fake domiciles. “The committee members as well as the deputy commissioners could not submit satisfactory statements regarding the issuance of bogus domiciles.”
The MQM-P lawmakers said hundreds of thousands of government jobs in Karachi, Hyderabad and other urban areas of Sindh had been given to people on the basis of fake domiciles against the principle of merit.
MQM-P lawmaker Khawaja Izharul Hasan filed a petition in the Sindh High Court on April 26, 2019 against fake domiciles for government employment during the last 12 years and sought formulation of a policy with regard to the issuance of the two important documents – domicile and permanent resident certificate.
On May 26, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah notified a three-member committee, headed by a senior member of the Board of Revenue, Qazi Shahid Pervez, and comprising General Administration secretary Saeed Ahmed Mangnejo and deputy director (PRC) Nazir Ahmed Qureshi to probe into complaints and reports about the issuance of domicile certificates to non-residents from other districts of the province.
The terms of reference of the committee are “to inspect and scrutinise the record of domicile certificates issued in various districts, to inquire into the complaints and reports, identify the domicile certificates issued to non-residents of the district, fix responsibility and give its clear recommendations for further action”.