CM wants city’s suburbs, urban areas to be developed simultaneously

Murad urges youth to leave no stone unturned in quest for education 

The local government and health ministers along with other development officials were asked by the Sindh chief minister to ensure development projects in the city’s suburbs were carried out alongside the uplift of its urban areas.

The directives were given in a meeting held with respect to the uplift of district Malir, which was to witness by-polls on its national assembly constituency, NA-258, next month.

Presiding over the meeting Syed Murad Ali Shah stated that according to elected representatives of the district, around 113 educational institutions, including schools and colleges were left incomplete for reasons as varying as shortage of funds to failure to submit PC-IV (completion of the project).

After discussing the schemes, the chief minister directed the concerned engineers to survey them and submit a detailed report to him in three days. The education department’s official was also given two days to prepare a report of expenditures for institutes recently completed, so as to make them functional at the earliest.

Coming on to dysfunctional health centres, the CM was informed that doctors appointed at the medical facilities never turn up for duties.

On being informed that the Rural Health Centre Murad Memon was being run by five staffers only, Murad asked the health minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro to take strict action. Expenditure for another non-functional 60-bed health facility, completed six months ago, in Asu Goth was also asked to be submitted.

“Those reluctant to do their work should not be with us,” he said, adding, that he had declared a health emergency which meant every official of the health department had to ensure services were provided to people of the entire province.

The city commissioner was told to have all occupied bungalows meant for residential purposes of medical practitioners vacated and send the encroachers to jail. Further discussing water supply issues, the CM was informed that a water supply scheme meant for 52 villages of Gadap could not be operated since there was no PMT to provide electricity to it. The CM, however, directed the city commissioner to speak to KE authorities and have a PMT installed immediately.

District chairman Malir was also told to ensure water supply scheme, meant for 48 villages of Ghaggar Phatak, was also made functional. Murad further asked district administrations to not tolerate misuse or theft of water at any cost.

Chief secretary NADRA was also asked to open up more registration centres in Malir since there were only two – one in Memon Goth and another in Gulshan-e-Hadeed – which were insufficient for the population residing in the district. All district administrations were told to hold weekly meetings with respect to development projects in their respective areas.

Besides minister health Dr Sikandhar Mandhro and local government minister Jam Khan Shoro, additional chief secretary (development) M Waseem, provincial secretaries Hassan Naqvi, Baqaullah Unar, Aijaz Memon and senior officers of various other departments attended the meeting MPAs Imdad Pitafi, Murtaza Baloch, Sajid Jokhio, MNA Shahida Rehmani, Hakeem Baloch, chairman DMC Malir Jan Mohammad Brohi and others also attended.

Convocation speech

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, on Thursday, advised the country’s youth to work hard and strive for their goals since they were the country’s hope for a better future. 

Addressing passing out students of the Altamash Institute of Dental Medicine, Murad urged the students to seek inspiration from the alma mater and develop a strong sense of dedication, patriotism and take pride in their achievements.

The CM asked the graduating students to not continue their education if they wanted to their lives to progress. “There is literally no end to seeking higher and advanced education in life,” he said.

“The world is changing rapidly; it is not the same as when you joined this institute some years ago. A lot has happened since then and events would continue to shape the destiny of the region we live in. Hence, it is important that you rise to challenges and demonstrate your potential for the benefit of the young, the old, the sick, and the fragile,” said the chief minister.

He also exhorted upon the graduating students to focus on their careers and fight against two main social menaces in the society, disease and poverty.

Murad called upon the dental institute’s principal, Prof Dr Muhammad Altamash, to conduct a series of community activities with both urban and rural population to enhance oral cancer awareness. “This problem is fast spreading in our hard pressed working force due to wide spread use of betel nuts and tobacco related stimulants.”

“We are a nation with our own distinct sense of traditions, history, and social values and we must preserve them but also continue to move shoulder to shoulder with other advanced nations of the world.”

Affiliated with the University of Karachi, the convocation was also attended by KU’s vice chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Qaiser.

Later addressing media persons, the Sindh CM said the provincial government’s revenue, local government and excise and taxation departments were pursuing the case of source deduction of their revenue by the federal revenue authorities.

He added that people of the city would soon be able to witness progress and infrastructural development in the city.