Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that the time is not far when the people will witness a new era of progress and prosperity as a result of the policies of the present government of Pakistan Peoples Party.
The chief minister said this while presiding over the meeting of the provincial cabinet, addressing the party workers and talking to media persons here on Saturday evening. He said that though the present PPP government has succeeded in addressing the economic and development issues of the country, however, lot of work is still pending for accomplishment for which hectic efforts are being made to that the people could get maximum relief from the policies of the government.
He informed that first ever in the history of the country, efforts have been made to improve the socio economic condition of the poor women. Under Benazir Income Support Programme, he said that financial assistance is being provided to deserving and needy women since last three years while 60 thousand acres of land has been distributed among the women peasants with provision of free of cost seeds and fertilizers so that they could be able to improve their living standard. The government has so far provided employment to 0.1 million jobless youth while technical training has also been provided to 0.16 million youth so that they could be able to carry out their own business and improve their living standard, the chief minister said and added that under Benazir Income Support Programme, load of Rs 0.3 million is also being provided to jobless youth so that they could start their own business and share their responsibility for the progress and prosperity of the country.
In health sector, Syed Qaim Ali Shah informed that hospitals with latest medical equipments and other required facilities are being established in each Taluka of Sindh. The provincial government is establishing seven big hospitals in different parts of the province and each hospital will cost Rs 500 to Rs 600 millions. The government has initiated Hepatitis Control Programme and spending billions of rupees to prevent Hepatitis, the Chief Minister informed and added that separate wings for Hepatitis vaccination and treatment have also been established in each District Headquarter Hospital where the patients could get free of diagnosis and treatment against Hepatitis. In Education Sector, Syed Qaim Ali Shah informed that first ever in the history of the province, thousands of teachers have been appointed purely on merit basis. A total of 15 thousand teachers have been appointed after the selection test, conducted by the University of Sindh Jamshoro while six to seven thousand teachers have been appointed by the government after selection test from IBA, he added.
The government also imparting training to appointed teachers so that they could provide quality education to the future generation, he said and added that these teachers are being posted in their respective Union Council’s schools. Besides scholarships to female students, the government is also providing text books to students free of cost so that their parents could not face any financial burden in providing education to their children, he added.
The Chief Minister informed that a girls degree college is being established in Tando Allahyar while the boys degree college in Massan is also under completion. In this college, the girls students of the area could also get admission, he informed. He informed that the government has established a college with the cooperation of Pakistan Air Force in Shaheed Benazirabad district while an Army School has also been opened in Pannu Aqil aimed top provide quality education to the young generation. The chief minister informed that the PPP government has launched Waseel-e-Haq Programme with Rs 12 billion under which financial assistance is being provided to needy persons so that they could establish their own business and improve their living standard.
About the coal reserves in Sindh, the Chief Minister termed these reserve a great asset for the province and informed that the government has launched Thar Coal Power Project which will start functioning within five years. He said that the country could not face the energy crisis, if the Keti Bandar Power Project was not stopped by the previous government. If the said project complete, the country at present is getting 8000 megawatt electricity, he added.
Besides the development projects, the Chief Minister said that the present PPP government has provided provincial autonomy to the provinces through Constitutional Amendments. Sindh will get around Rs 40 to Rs 50 billion more as a result of NFC Award, which announced by the present government, he added.
