Sindh cabinet okays 0.5pc quota for transgender people in govt jobs

The Sindh cabinet on Tuesday approved the draft of the Sindh Civil Services (Amendment) Bill 2022 to allocate a 0.5 per cent quota in government jobs in the province for members of the transgender community.

Sindh Information and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani informed the media about this while addressing a media briefing after the meeting of the provincial cabinet held at the Chief Minister House with CM Syed Murad Ali Shah in chair.

The minister told the media that the Sindh Civil Services (Amendment) Bill 2022 will soon be passed by the Sindh Assembly to reserve a 0.5 per cent quota in government jobs for members of the transgender community.

He said that the latest move of the Sindh government will enable the people belonging to the transgender community in the province to lead more respectful lives. He also said that members of the transgender community have already been working with the Sindh government after securing their jobs through the usual meritorious method of recruitment.

Ghani mentioned that the social media has been abuzz with rumours that the Sindh cabinet is going to discuss the option of granting Pakistani citizenship to prospective foreign investors. Briefing the media on the matter, CM’s Special Assistant on Investment Syed Qasim Naveed Qamar said the proposal in question is related to the federal government’s important move envisaging the offer of long-term residency after foreign investment is made in accordance with certain global standards.

Qamar said that since investment has become a devolved subject after the 18th constitutional amendment, the Sindh government will give its suggestions to Islamabad on the issue. The information minister told the media that the provincial cabinet has granted approval to the proposal of a 90-day extension in the special policing powers of the Sindh Rangers in Karachi under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The previous term of these powers of the paramilitary force ended on December 23, 2021.

He said the Sindh cabinet also approved giving a speedy grant of Rs4 billion to the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases on an immediate basis. He added that the provincial cabinet also okayed the plan to devolve the powers to collect property tax to the municipal agencies in Sindh, pointing out that property tax was earlier collected by the provincial excise & taxation department. The cabinet also approved the proposal to allow the staffers of the excise & taxation department to work in municipal agencies to establish the set-up for the collection of property tax.

He said the provincial cabinet also approved a plan to introduce a barcode system for the unique identification of every scheme included in the Annual Development Programme of the Sindh government. He added that the Sindh cabinet also approved the proposal to establish a Sindh Physiotherapy Council.

Ghani said the cabinet also approved amendments to be incorporated in the provincial pension rules to make the system of the disbursement of pensions sustainable. He said reforms in the government’s pension system have become inevitable, otherwise the process is bound to become unbearable to the extent that it can disrupt salary payment to government employees. The information minister said the provincial cabinet also approved the proposal to purchase 9mm pistols for the Sindh police.

He said works to complete the Malir Expressway, the Ghotki-Kandhkot Bridge, the Mauripur Expressway and the N-5 to M-9 link road in Karachi are in progress under public-private partnership. By next year the Malir Expressway will be completed until Quaidabad, he added.

On a query Ghani said the Jamaat-e-Islami has demanded the withdrawal of the recently passed Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Act 2021 without knowing the amendment has made Karachi’s mayor chairman of the city’s solid waste disposal body, while municipal agencies have also been empowered to collect property tax.

He said the JI can stand justified in their demand to revive the local government ordinance of 2001 only if such a call is made for the entire country. He also said the Sindh government has asked the JI for suggestions to improve the province’s local government law so that the improved legislation can be adopted.

He, however, clarified that the suggestions must be deemed practicable because the amended legislation was passed on the basis of a majority in the assembly.