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CM orders crackdown against beggar mafia
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Cabinet proposes ban on plastic products
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali on Monday directed the health department to make necessary arrangements for the treatment of two boys who lost their arms and hands when high tension wires fell on them.
He made the orders while presiding over the second cabinet meeting of his second tenure at Chief Minister House.
The chief minister said that the incident affecting Umar, 8, a resident of Ahsanabad and Haris, 9, a resident of Surjani Town were extremely painful. “I want to rehabilitate them at any cost and the provincial government would bear all their treatment expenses wherever it is possible,” he said.
He directed Health Secretary Dr Usman Chachar to talk to the expert doctors and give them the reports about the children so that they could be rehabilitated and returned to normal life.
The CM said that the arrangements might also be made to fix them artificial limbs and “I do not know how it would be done but just I want it to be done at any cost,” he directed health secretary and also asked him to keep him sending day to day reports.
The cabinet also took up the issue of overhead cables hanging everywhere in the city. The chief minister, on the recommendation of the cabinet, constituted a committee under Local Government secretary to talk to the relevant quarters to remove all overhead cables of internet, telephone, TV cables and such others.
“These cables are not only defacing the beauty of the city but also creating a nuisance, some time they fall on vehicles and sometimes on the road,” the chief minister said and directed local government secretary to seek help from the Karachi commissioner and get these cables removed.
BEGGARS ON ROADS:
The cabinet also expressed serious reservation over the beggars roaming around along with their small children and begging on all the important stops, signals, places. “This is unacceptable and we cannot allow small children to start their life as a beggar,” the chief minister said and added that strict measures must be taken to control this.
The cabinet sought a detailed report on the issue and decided to remove beggars from the city. The traffic police, district administration and social welfare department would jointly work to eliminate the beggar mafia from the city.
PLASTIC BAGS REMOVAL:
The law department presented an item under which it recommended to ban polythene and plastic bags. Advisor to CM on Law Murtaza Wahab said that environment and climate change are one of the most serious issues being faced by the country. Therefore, he said, strict enforcement of the law is must for developing environment-friendly society.
The chief minister directed the law department to present this item in the next cabinet along with detailed study and consultation with all the stakeholders.
PROCUREMENT FOR HEALTH DEPARTMENT:
Health department presented an item to seek exemption from the cabinet for procurement of medicines from the already released funds at the approved rate of the last tender of the central contract system.
Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho said that a similar exemption was also required for Syed Abdullah Shah Institute of Medical Sciences, Sehwan.
Dr Pechuho said that in 1991, all departments were authorised to make purchases at their own level. She added that in 2001-2, all districts were authorised for procurement at their own, however, for provincially managed institutions such as educational institutions and major hospitals, procurement was centralised by the health department.
In 2007, all institutions, major hospitals and district health facilities were authorized to make the purchase at their own level. In 2014-15, due to the disparity of rates among the institutions and districts, the procurement was centralized under Central Rate Contract System for all health institutes and hospitals including projects.
The cabinet approved the exemption and directed the health department not to seek a similar exemption again.
FINANCE, HOME, LAW, TRANSPORT DEPARTMENTS’ PRESENTATIONS:
The finance department gave a detailed presentation and requested the cabinet to approve the appointment of new Sindh Bank Ltd. President ACS Finance Noor Alam said that the board of directors of the bank had conducted interviews for the position on January 22, 2018, and selected four candidates for the position. The cabinet approved the appointment of Tariq Ahsan who was on the top in the list.
The law department presented an amendment in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act No V 1908). In the amendment, insertion in section 2, Code of Civil Procedure Code has been made under which definitions and provision of `Alternate Dispute Resolution, conciliation, and mediation have been provided.
The transport department proposed conversion and utilization of amenity plots for the mass transit project. Under the conversion of amenity plot, the transport department sought specific utilization of two amenity plots, ST-11, Sector 4, Surjani Town and KGA ground near Numaish Karachi where infrastructure for Mass Transit Project would be made. The cabinet directed transport department to put up the agenda in the next cabinet meeting and submit all the details, rules and regulations under which it wanted to convert the plots.
The home department on the recommendation of Sindh High Court presented the names of Rashid Mustafa Solangi and Ghulam Mustafa A. Memon for their appointment as judges of Anti-Terrorism Courts No. XVA, Karachi and Court No. II at Central Prison Hyderabad, respectively. The cabinet approved the appointments.
