Professor given contract of Sindh Museum canteen

KARACHI: The Sindh Culture Department gave contract of a canteen of the Sindh Museum, Hyderabad, adjacent to the Benazir Bhutto Children Park, in the name of writers on the low rate of Rs30,000 per month to an assistant professor of the Sindh University, Salma Leghari, well known as Ammar Sindhu, allegedly without following the rules of the Sindh government.
Well-placed sources told The News that after taking the charge of the canteen, Assistant Professor Salma Leghari with the consent of the Culture Department officers occupied the Benazir Bhutto Children Park and started running the commercial hotel in the name of ‘Café Khana Badosh’.
According to the rules of the Sindh government, any government property can be given on contract or lease or any allotment can be made after adoption of proper procedure under the ‘Sindh Public Procurement Rules 2010’. After advertisement and bidding that property could be given to any person, but in this case all rules were allegedly violated.
Director General Sindh Culture Department Manzoor Ahmed Kansiro told The News that the canteen had been allotted to Ammar Sindhu for a place for writers and literature class.
Replying to a question, Kansiro said that rules were not observed in this case.
Kansiro also said that the Culture Department only gave the contract of the canteen while the premises of Children Park might be used occasionally.
Assistant Professor Salma Leghari aka Ammar Sindhu confirmed to The News that the canteen was handed over to her on contract basis as an improved sitting place for writers in Hyderabad and she formed ‘Café Khana Badosh’ for Writers. “This canteen was given to me as a writer and not as a government employee and I am not aware about the rules. We did not occupy any children park but sometimes writers sit outside the canteen in the premises of the park,” added Ammar Sindhu.
She suggested to this reporter to contact the Culture Department for further queries.
Prominent writer Inam Sheikh told The News that Children Park had been handed over to a professor of Sindh University without following the rules and how a professor who was a government employee becamea contractor of a Sindh government department.
Inam Sheikh claimed this contract was given to a writer who is not representative of writers and majority of writers avoid going there. Sheikh confirmed that the canteen was being run as a commercial hotel.
Writers Hafeez Khumbar and Nisar Khokhar also criticised the encroachment in the name of writers.