Caretaker govt ready to hold elections on Feb 8, says Ahmed Shah

Hyderabad: the Sindh government has initiated a programme titled ‘Strengthening Social Protection Delivery System in Sindh’ in 15 districts of the province to improve the mother and child health.

The Sindh caretaker minister for information, social protection and minorities, Mohammad Ahmed Shah, said this while talking to the media at the Shehbaz Hall in Shehbaz Building, Hyderabad, On Saturday.

He said the programme had been initiated in collaboration with the World Bank.

The information minister informed the media that initially, the programme had been started in three districts of Sindh — Tando Mohammad Khan, Tando Allahyar and Matiari — and it would be extended in other districts soon. According to Shah, the programme would benefit 1.3 million women and children in the province. The intervention would give Rs30,000 in cash to mothers located in areas where malnutrition is prevalent so that they could overcome malnutrition and give birth to healthy babies.

Replying to a question regarding the elections, the information minister said the caretaker government was ready to hold the polls on February 8.

The Sindh government had released Rs4 billion for the elections and the deputy commissioners had received the money required for logistics operations, Shah said, adding that work was under way to equip the polling stations with necessary facilities.

He said a meeting of the Sindh caretaker government’s cabinet had been scheduled for next week where discussions would take place on the security of the polling stations. He said the Sindh police, reserve police and other departments would provide security on the day of the elections.

Later, a meeting was presided over by the information minister at the Shehbaz Hall, where he directed the Hyderabad commissioner to issue directions to the deputy commissioners and health professionals for the registration of beneficiaries of the programme for mother child health.

Hyderabad Commissioner Syed Khalid Hyder Shah assured the minister that he would soon conduct a meeting with the deputy commissioners of the Hyderabad division to discuss the programme.

Later, Shah inaugurated the two-day 9th Hyderabad Literature Festival (HLF) at the Sindh Museum. Sindh Culture Director General Munawar Mahesar and former information secretary Mehtab Akbar Rashdi and Sindh Education Foundation Managing Director Abdul Kabir Qazi were also present on the occasion.

The festival featured tableaus and beautiful cultural performances by students .

In his speech at the inaugural ceremony of the HLF, Shah said that 20 years ago, murders took place in Karachi over language and ethnicity. He added that during such a chaotic situation, the Arts Council of Pakistan (ACP), Karachi, started literary festivals with the International Urdu Conference.

Shah, who is also the ACP president, said Hyderabad was the capital of Sindh in the past, but a few decades ago, ethnic violence was rife in the city. He was of the view that hatred and violence could be eliminated by the force of culture and power of literature because culture and literature were more powerful than political power.

He went on to remark that we could connect people through literary works of Shah Latif, Shaikh Ayaz and Ibrahim Joyo, and their literature was the first line of defence against terrorism.

Before attending the HLF, Shah inaugurated the first centre of ‘Strengthening Social Protection Delivery System’ programme in Tando Allahyar.