Sindh govt told to establish e-libraries in every district

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the chief secretary, finance secretary and education department to ensure the establishment of e-libraries in every district of the province in the upcoming budget on the similar pattern that is being observed in Punjab.

The high court also took exception to the non-utilisation of a major portion of funds allocated for libraries in the province.

The direction came on a lawsuit of the Mashal Welfare Foundation with regard to the allocation of funds for public libraries and non-formal schools.

The additional finance secretary submitted a report regarding the allocation of funds for libraries and non-formal schools. A single bench of the SHC headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar observed that the perusal of report reflected that there were 21 libraries in the province under the culture department with the capacity of 175 librarians and supporting staff.

The SHC observed that the finance department report further reflected that a major portion of the allocated funds were released but the same were not utilised by the department. The high court observed that such allocation of funds and supporting staff reflected that the government had been conscious of the importance and vitality of libraries but the manner in which things had developed to the current scenario begged for an answer. The bench directed a provincial law officer to submit a detailed report on reasons behind the failure to utilise the funds for the libraries.

The SHC directed the libraries director general and the culture secretary to appear in person and submit a detailed report, including recent videos of all the libraries showing therein the condition of those libraries as well reasons for their deterioration.

The high court also directed the Naushehro Feroz, Dadu, Khairpur, Hyderabad, Shikarpur, Karachi, Larkana, Jacobabad and Mirpurkhas deputy commissioners to submit reports with regard to utilisation of funds by disclosing the purchase of new books, material and accessories with regard to the libraries.

The SHC was informed that Punjab had so far established 20 e-libraries. The court observed that e-libraries were the need of the hour and their establishment required neither much space nor staff. The bench remarked that e-libraries were easy to access even if the people were in isolation as they were being advised nowadays.

The high court directed the chief secretary, finance secretary and education department to ensure the establishment of e-libraries in every district of Sindh on the pattern similar to Punjab.

The SHC also directed all the deputy commissioners of the province to submit detailed reports with regard to libraries and utilisation of their funds during the previous five years. Meanwhile, the high court also directed the Sindh Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority managing director to appear in person and submit details of technical colleges.