Sindh cabinet approves Rs521m for Peoples Bus Service, decides to launch Kissan Card

Presiding over a meeting of the Sindh cabinet on Wednesday, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah approved Rs521 million for fuel indexation of intra-district Peoples Bus Service, a Rs5.027 million grant to the JS Academy for the deaf, and the launch of Kissan Card to support peasants in the province.

Speaking at the meeting, the CM said Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had given clear instructions to his government for the issuance of Kissan Card and preparing a plan to carry out development initiatives in every district of Sindh. “I want to constitute a committee to implement the election manifesto of the party so that all the 10 points as announced by the chairman can be implemented in true letter and spirit,” Shah said.

Bus service

Sindh Senior Minister for Transport Sharjeel Memon informed the cabinet that the tender for supplies, operations and maintenance of the Sindh Intra-District Peoples Bus Service was awarded to the National Radio & Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) in October 2021 for a term of 12 years till October 2033.

The NRTC had supplied 250 buses, of which 230 were operational and an additional 40 buses had also been added to the fleet, the transport minister said.

Memon told the cabinet that the project was a government-to-government initiative between the Sindh government and NRTC. He added that it was also the first-ever intra-city public transport project operating in mixed traffic in Karachi and other cities of the province such as Larkana, Hyderabad and Sukkur.

He said the NRTC had requested the Sindh Mass

Transit Authority for the release of payment of fuel indexations from January to June 24. As per practice, independent third-party consultants were assigned to determine, analyse and forecast the fuel indexation who submitted the forecast budget of Rs820. 996 million for the period between January and June 2024.

The cabinet was told that to ensure the smooth operations of the bus service, Rs820. 996 million were required. Memon said that Rs300 million, which was already kept in the account as grant-in aid for one-time fuel indexation during the current financial year 2023-24 may be released and the remaining amount of Rs521 million may be released for the project to cover the fuel indexation for the period Jan-Jun 2024.

The cabinet approved the amount of Rs521 million for the purpose.

Grant for deaf students

The CM was told that the JS Academy in Karachi provided empowerment initiatives related to completely free-of-charge education from early childhood education to postgraduate level to deaf students.

It was said that the JS Academy had been registered by the school and college education departments, and the relevant boards. Currently, it had enrollment of 152 hearing impaired students, including 81 boys and 71 girl Deaf students.

The cabinet was told that the academy faced a deficiency of Rs10.747 million per annum in meeting its expenses.

The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities requested the CM to approve a Rs5.027 million grant in aid for the academy to cover the six-month shortfall of the current financial year 2023-24. The cabinet approved the grant.

Kissan Card

The CM said Kissan Cards would be issued to farmers benefitting from various government programmes. He added that it aimed at consolidating the recipient’s information for transparent and efficient implementation of these interventions.

Shah said his government would develop a digital platform and provide all district administrations with user logins to enter details of farmers in their jurisdictions. The information added to the system would pertain to demographics, contact details, crops and landholding patterns, livestock, irrigation system and mechanisation.

He said this initiative would result in an appropriate allocation of schemes to the right farmers, ease in broadcasting messages to the larger masses and creation of a centralised database. He said the Kissan cardholders would be given preference in the procurement of wheat.

Shah constituted a committee comprising the irrigation minister, Board of Revenue senior member and agriculture secretary to start compiling data and submit their recommendations for the purpose.

It was also discussed and agreed that a farmer possessing up to 12 acres of land and cultivating himself/herself would qualify for the Kissan Card for which a survey and registration work would be started within a week so that the card could be issued within the next six months.