‘Rs20 million being released to every DC for ration distribution among needy families’

Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh, who heads the four-member committee constituted by the chief minister to carry out relief work in view of the coronvarius emergency, has said that a sum of Rs20 million is being released to every deputy commissioner in the province so that he or she could distribute ration to poor people whose livelihood has been affected due to the government’s lockdown regime in place.

Talking to journalists here on Wednesday, he said CM Murad Ali Shah had given approval to the immediate release of Rs20 million each to the deputy commissioner posted in every district for ration distribution among the needy families.

He said the Sindh government would make sure that each and every deserving family got food ration during the days of the lockdown regime in Sindh so as to prevent the coronavirus from spreading further in the province.

Shaikh said the committees were being constituted at the level of every union council and union committee in the province to carry out the ration distribution among the needy families. He said that the needy families in Karachi would also be provided with ration packages during the lockdown.

In a separate press statement, provincial information and local government minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said the government would distribute essential food items amongst the needy people during lockdown in collaboration with welfare organisations.

He said he recently chaired a meeting in which representatives of various welfare organisations, including Edhi, Chhipa Trust, Alamgeer and Al-Khidmat, were present and they all discussed in detail the possible ways of distribution of free ration among the people during the lockdown period.

He said the welfare organisations engaged in distributing free ration amongst the poor and needy were indeed an asset to this country. Shah said all these welfare organisations were actively participating and assisting the government in its relief activities during the lockdown.

Paying tribute to those volunteers working for welfare organisations, the minister said they were those great people who had dedicated their lives to helping the poor and needy. He said that in these testing times, the government could not do anything alone, and with the help of these great people, all the needs of the poor and needy would be fulfilled and delivered on time.

Shah said that in this time of trouble, the government as well as the welfare organizations was a ray of hope for the people. He said the government had already constituted a committee comprising representatives of welfare organisations as well as representatives of the government, which would monitor and supervise all necessary steps to be taken to distribute ration among the people during the lockdown period. He said that this committee would ensure that ration and all other necessities reached the needy people on time without any discrimination.

He said that this committee would also issue an SMS number in this regard to facilitate people to get free ration. Shah said that it was a major challenge for the Sindh government to reach out to the needy people who earned a living on a daily basis and feed their families through their limited earnings. He expressed hope that the government with the help of the welfare organisations would be able to meet this big challenge successfully.

CM visits Saylani Trust

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah visited the Head Office of Saylani Welfare Trust in Bahadurabad and visited their warehouse for the inspection of the ration packaging system installed there.

Founder Saylani Welfare Trust Maulana Bashir Ahmed Farooqui briefed the chief minister about their ration distribution system. The chief minister distributed atta among deserving persons to inaugurate the distribution of ration during the lockdown in place in the province. Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh was also present on the occasion.