Sindh Transport Minister Awais Qadir Shah told the provincial cabinet on Thursday that his department had signed an agreement with the National Radio & Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) this October to procure 250 diesel-electric hybrid buses for an intra-district bus service.
The transport department will launch the Sindh Intra-District Peoples Bus Service in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad through the Sindh Mass Transit Authority.
The minister said the construction of the depots, the operation and maintenance of the buses, and the revenue collection will be carried out by private operators.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who chaired the advisory group’s meeting at the CM House, directed him to bring the buses on the roads by April. The cabinet approved the agreement signed between the transport department and the NRTC.
On the recommendation of the health department, the cabinet also approved the creation of the Sindh Thalassaemia & Haemoglobinopathy Foundation to work for promoting, developing and financing thalassaemia and haemoglobinopathy centres across the province. The foundation will be governed by the health secretary with an 11-member body.
On the recommendation of the provincial population welfare department, the advisory group discussed and approved the amendments in the Sindh Reproductive Healthcare Rights Act 2019.
Under the amendment, premarital consultation on family planning has been made mandatory for the registration of Nikah. Telehealth, self-care, and maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response have also been made part of the bill.
Through an amendment in the Dow University of Health Sciences Act 2004, the Sindh Medical College section was abolished from the act because it had been established as a full-fledged university, and similar other amendments were approved and referred to the provincial assembly.
The investment department told the cabinet that the CM has already approved the creation of the Sindh Economic Zones Management Company as an administrative agency of the Khairpur Special Economic Zone (KSEZ) established over 140 acres as the first industrial park with the status of special economic zone.
On the request of the investment department, the advisory group authorised the company to take over as the administrative agency of the KSEZ and immediately accommodate the investors and zone enterprises.
The cabinet also abolished the steering committee working under the Sukkur commissioner for plots’ allotment and infrastructure development. On the request of Agriculture Minister Manzoor Wassan, the CM directed the company to complete all the ongoing projects of the zone on priority basis.
The meeting was attended by provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Planning & Development Chairman Mohsin Naqvi, CM’s Principal Secretary Sajid Jamal Abro and other relevant officials.