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Thursday March 28, 2024

CM Murad approves Rs7.5 bn poverty reduction strategy

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah approved poverty reduction strategy of Rs72.5 billion under which interventions would be made in education, health, water and sanitation and development t of internal village roads.

By Web Desk
October 16, 2018

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah approved poverty reduction strategy of Rs72.5 billion under which interventions would be made in education, health, water and sanitation and development t of internal village roads.

He took this decision while presiding over a cabinet meeting at 7th Floor of the New Secretariat. The meeting was attended by all the provincial ministers, advisors and the special assistants who were invited specially.

The Planning & Development with the assistance of EU after a hectic and two-year long survey and study has prepared a poverty reduction strategy under which rural and urban poverty would be reduced by making necessary interventions by upgrading villages. The villages would be given internal roads, water supply and drainage schemes, health facilities, vocational training and top of it a holistic approach would be made to improve quality of educational.

The chief minister said that the programme would be started all over Sindh and rural and urban poverty would be reduced by investing Rs72.5 billion during the next five years. This would be in additional to the already launched poverty reduction prorammes and initiatives.

RBCs: The cabinet was told that with the assistance of the German Development Bank four state of art regional blood centers (RBCs) have been constructed at Sukkur, Jamshoro, Shaheed Benazirabad and Karachi.

Minister Health Dr Azra Pechuho told that the health department has no prior experience of managing the sophisticated blood centers, therefore they may be contracted out to experienced private sector organization under PPP mode.

The cabinet after receiving proper presentation by the health department approved to contract out RBC Jamshoro to Indus Hospital, RBC Sukkur to Sukkur Blood and Drug Donating Society, RBC Shaheedabad to Fatmid Foundation and RBC Karachi to Ziaudding Hospital.

PHE: Secretary Public Engineering department Syed Jamal Shah gave a presentation to the cabinet saying that in the light of Supreme Court of Pakistan Judgement they have prepared an action plan. The plan calls for transferring all the functions relating to water, sewerage scheme, including installation, operation and management of RO plants to Public Health Engineering department.

The cabinet approved transferring of all the concerned staff of local government to PHE department. Under the plan 1572 schemes would be operated and the salaries of the staff would come to Rs642 million. The cabinet approved the plan and directed chief secretary to implement it. The cabinet also approved Rs500 million for transaction and placed at the disposal of the secretary PHED.

Forest : Additional Chief Secretary Forest & Wildlife Sohail Akbar Shah with the approval of the chief minister presented a restructuring plan of his department. The cabinet approved the proposed restructuring. Under the plan two posts of chief conservators of Forests (CCF), Grade BPS-20, have been created.

(a) CCF Mangroves & Rangelands to look after the mangroves ecosystem and development projects of the department especially Green Pakistan programme.

(b) CCF Social Forestry to lookafter the social forestry wing of the department.

Four positions of conservators of forest (CF) of grade BPS-19 have also been created to adequately support the CCFs.

He said that productive forests which include riverise and irrigated plantation spread over an area of 0.800 million acres. Similarly, Protective Forests which include mangroves and rangelands cover an area of 2.5 Million Acreas. In this way our forests speared over an area of 3.3 Million Acres which constitute 8 percent of total land area of Sindh. “Therefore, restructuring of the department was vital to lookafter these forests and improve them further,” the secretary said. The cabinet approved the plan.

The chief minister told the cabinet that the provincial government has received an email from Gayness book for establishing a record of planting mangroves.