Sindh govt okays Rs100 million emergency fund to fight coronavirus

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah told his cabinet on Tuesday that he has ordered the purchase of 5,000 coronavirus testing kits and the release of Rs100 million for adopting preventive measures against the viral emergency in the province.

Shah chaired the meeting of the advisory group at the CM House, where the chief secretary and provincial ministers, advisers and relevant secretaries were also in attendance.

The CM said that after the first coronavirus case was diagnosed, he started holding daily meetings and formed a task force that he himself is overseeing.

“I’m holding regular meetings of the task force in which all the people concerned, including experts, doctors, airport and aviation authorities, the FIA, Nadra and the WHO, are on board,” he said, adding that so far 53 tests have been conducted, of which only two were positive.

He disclosed that isolation wards have been established at nine hospitals with 118 beds. He said the Indus Hospital and the Aga Khan University Hospital have been helping out a lot in this regard.

“I have tasked the Indus Hospital with looking after all of the coronavirus issues, from conducting tests and keeping the suspects in isolation to providing them with treatment, and my government has given them a grant of Rs100 million to purchase kits and other necessary equipment,” he said.

Sindh water act

The local government department presented a draft of the Sindh Water Act 2020 regarding the use of ground and surface water for commercial purposes. The CM said ground water and agriculture water are being dealt with by different departments, so this task cannot be transferred to a single authority.

Therefore, he constituted a committee headed by him, with the CS, the LG minister, the irrigation minister, the agriculture minister and the public health minister as members. The committee will review the draft and may form a separate body to regulate the matters of ground water.

Tractor scheme

The agriculture department told the cabinet that three phases of tractor purchase on government subsidy had been completed but the fourth phase came to a standstill after the

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) took up the issue.

Under the plan 6,200 tractors would be given on the basis of a government subsidy. The government had released Rs450 million to the Sindh Bank for the subsidy when the fourth phase of the programme was halted.

Now NAB has issued guidelines in accordance with which the cabinet approved to start the fourth phase. The cabinet was told that the balloting for the applicant who had applied for the programme was conducted when the scheme was launched.

Wheat plan

The food department told the cabinet about the wheat procurement plan for the crop season 2019-20. Under the plan fair distribution of bardana among growers will be ensured, as particularly district-wise procurement target will be fixed on proportionate basis.

The cabinet also approved the purchase of 20 per cent jute bags and 80 per cent PP bags for wheat procurement. The advisory group also decided that functional flour mills will be allowed to retain wheat stock of 90 days as per their sanctioned or grinding capacity.

The food department proposed Rs1,400 as the price of wheat per 40 kilograms. On this the CM said the federal government has fixed Rs1,365 per 40kg as the support price and it is going to revise it. He directed the CS to coordinate with the federal government so that the Centre and the provinces could fix the same minimum support price. He said that this decision should be taken within the next four days because the harvesting of wheat has already been started.

Economic zone

The cabinet approved the transfer of 1,530 acres of land located in Deh Gharo, Dhabeji, District Thatta to the investment department to establish it as the Dhabeji Special Economic Zone under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The advisory group also fixed the price of the land at 25 per cent of the market value of an acre, which the investment department would pay to the revenue department and would start development of the economic zone. The CM said the economic zone would provide new vistas of employment opportunities and prosperity in the province.

Vice chancellors

The cabinet granted another term to eight vice chancellors who are eminent academics: NED University’s Dr SH Lodhi, Mehran University’s Dr Aslam Uqaili, Shah Abdul Latif University’s Prof Parveen Shah, LUMHS Jamshoro’s Prof Bikha Ram, IBA Sukkur’s Prof Nisar Siddiqui, JSM University’s Prof Tariq Rafi, Dawood University’s Dr Faizullah Abbasi and BBS University Khairpur’s Dr Madad Ali Shah.

Mirpurkhas university

In Mirpurkhas, a campus of the Sindh University was established in 2009 that was offering bachelor’s and master’s programmes. At present the campus is running nine bachelor’s and master’s programmes with a 1,000-strong enrolment.

The CM said the Mirpurkhas division has no full-fledged university, so the campus may be upgraded to university. He added that the division has three districts — Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar and Umerkot — with a population of 4.5 million, so there should be a university for such a huge population. The proposal was supported by minister Hari Ram, an MPA from Mirpurkhas, as well as all the other cabinet members. The universities & boards department presented the draft bill of the University of Mirpurkhas Act 2020, which the cabinet approved. The advisory group directed the law department to vet the draft so it could be presented in the assembly.

Shaikh Ayaz University

The cabinet also approved the jurisdiction of the Shaikh Ayaz University, Shikarpur. Under the jurisdiction, all the degree colleges of the Larkana division would be affiliated with the Shaikh Ayaz University.

The degree colleges and law colleges of the division are presently affiliated with the Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur, which falls under the Sukkur division. Now, public and private degree colleges, law colleges and other institutions affiliated with the Shah Abdul Latif University will switch over to the Shaikh Ayaz University. The cabinet approved the proposal.

Film censors

The culture department presented the matter of providing remuneration or fee to the members of the Sindh Board of Films Censors for the censorship of films. The cabinet approved different rates for 12 categories. The cabinet also approved the de-notification of two additional advocates general as well as four assistant advocates general.