Sindh cabinet approves reserved seats for transgender community in local councils

A meeting of the Sindh cabinet on Friday made several important decisions, including fixing of sugar cane minimum price at Rs302 per 40 kilogrammes (kg) for the 2022-23 crop, approval of reserved seats for the transgender community in the local councils, and purchase of 40 more buses under the Peoples Bus Service in Karachi.

The cabinet meeting was held at the Sindh CM House with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in chair.

Sugar cane price

Adviser to the CM on Agriculture Manzoor Wassan told the cabinet that he had held a number of meetings with all the stakeholders, including growers and millers, to develop a consensus for the fixation of new sugar cane prices.

He said that the Punjab government had fixed Rs300 per 40kg as the sugarcane price, and suggested that the cabinet fix Rs302 per 40kg for the crushing season 2022-23 that started on November 29, 2022. The cabinet approved the fixation of the minimum price of sugar cane at Rs302 per 40kg.

Reserved seats

The provincial cabinet approved reservation of seats for the transgender community in the local councils of the province. At the request of Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Shah, the provincial cabinet discussed the allocation of reserved seats in the local councils under six categories.

The reserved seats include those for women, youth (at least one seat), labour or farmer (one seat), non-Muslim members (one seat), persons with disabilities (one seat), and transgender persons (one seat).

40 buses for Karachi

The provincial cabinet at the request of Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon approved an amount of Rs1.7 billion for the purchase of 40 more 12-metre-long hybrid buses for the already operational Peoples Bus Service in Karachi.

A proposal for launching a Peoples Bus Service for Tourist sites in the province also came under discussion. The cabinet directed Culture Minister Syed Sardar Shah to submit a written proposal so that buses from Karachi to major tourist spots such as Keenjhar, Thar, Ranikot and other areas could be launched.

Baldia factory victims

Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani told the meeting that the Baldia factory fire incident had occurred in September 2012. He added that the German Brand KiK Textilian contributed $1 million for relief for the families of the deceased and injured victims of the fire tragedy and the compensation commission established by the Sindh High Court under the chairmanship of Rehmat Hussain Jaffery was assigned the work of disbursement of the funds.

The Sindh government through the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (Sessi) had been disbursing the amount of death and survival pension to the lawful survivors of the deceased workers of the factory.

The cabinet was told that the German firm had offered to provide a long-term compensation of $5.15 million to be distributed among the victims by way of a lifetime pension scheme through Sessi on a monthly basis.

Ghani told the cabinet that the International Labour Organisation, Geneva, (ILO) wanted to transfer the funds to an insurance company (EFU Assurance Ltd) as its payment agent. The cabinet approved the request and allowed the labour department to sign a memorandum of understanding with the ILO to transfer the funds to the insurance company so that the company could start the pension disbursement.

Wheat procurement

The cabinet approved the procurement of 300,000 tons of wheat from PASCO so that the wheat requirement of the province could be met till the harvest of the new crop in early March.

The CM directed the food department to make necessary arrangements for the procurement of wheat for the crop season 2022-23 from early February so that the procurement target could be achieved.