Sindh to procure 1.4 million tons of wheat

KARACHI: The Sindh cabinet has decided to procure 1.4 million tons of wheat for crop 2019-20 and constituted a cabinet committee to evolve a procurement mechanism so the commodity could be procured from the genuine particularly small growers.

The cabinet meeting was held under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah here on Wednesday and was attended by all provincial ministers, advisors and chairperson P&D, chief secretary and others.

The Minister Food Hari Ram and Secretary Food Laiq Ahmed briefed the cabinet that there would be no wheat stocks at the end of March to intervene in the market to stabilize the prices. The federal government has fixed a minimum price of Rs1,365 per 40 kg for the procurement of wheat by PASCO. The chief minister tasked Food Minister Hari Ram, Agriculture Minister Ismail Rahu and Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Shah to suggest within 10 days ways and means of procurement so the genuine growers, particularly of the small ones could be offered a better price.

On the controversy surrounding the transfer and posting of the new IG, the Chief Minister told the cabinet that the prime minister office had requested him to send them two more names for the new IG Police. Therefore, he has sent the names of Sanaullah Abbasi and Inam Ghani. Now, the Establishment Division has a panel of five officers and they would post one of them as new IG Police within next two days. Earlier, he had sent the names of three officers comprising, Ghulam Qadir Thebo, Mushtaq Maher and Kamran Fazal. The cabinet deplored the incumbent IG Police for indulging in a campaign of character assassination of provincial ministers. The Information Minister told the media that they would inform the federal government that the incumbent IG Police was not fit for working as IG Police anywhere in Pakistan.

The Minister Local Government Syed Nasir Shah and Secretary Local Government Roshan Shaikh briefed the cabinet on the establishment of `Sindh Urban and Regional Master Plan Authority’ which would be the custodian of the master plan of Karachi and other cities of the province. He told the cabinet that the draft bill of the Authority has been sent to the law department. The cabinet granted its approval and directed the local government to present the draft rules in the next meeting.

The transport Minister, Syed Awais Shah and Secretary Abbas Thebo presented an amendment in the Motor Vehicle Ordinance for the operation of online public transport, taxis, and installation of tracker in motorcycles. The cabinet approved the draft. The Minister Labour Saeed Ghani and Secretary Labour Rasheed Solangi presented draft `Sindh Prohibition of Employment of Children’s Rules, 2018. The new amendments would ensure that adolescents do not work for more than six hours a day. The period of work on each day shall be so fixed that no period shall exceed three hours without an interval. The cabinet approved the rules.

The draft Sindh Home-based Workers’ Rules 2019 have been framed in the light the Act, 2018. An eight-member council has been constituted with secretary labour as its chairman to identify and classify `Home-based workers, trade to which they are engaged; classification of the service provider and identification of their workplace. The council would develop the data electronically and keep an eye on their security and safety. Their wages would be determined through the Minimum Wage Board. The cabinet approved the rules. The cabinet also approved the rules of the Sindh Hazardous Occupation (Silicon) Rules 2018.

The Chairman Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) Khalid Mahmood proposed linkage of the invoicing system of certain categories of service providers with SRB systems on a real-time basis to stop tax evasion and document the economy. These service providers include hotels, motels, clubs, restaurants, beauty parlors/clinic/slimming centers, body massage centers, pedicure centers, health care centers, gyms, physical fitness centers, cosmetic and plastic surgery, fashion designers and laundries and dry cleaners. The cabinet approved the proposal.

The law department presented revised eligibility criteria for the recruitment of heirs under the deceased quota. The chief minister said that the heirs must be recruited within three days of death. ”The cabinet directed the Chief Secretary to prepare a comprehensive policy and submit that in the next cabinet meeting.