In pursuance of his mission to fix a broken Sindh and boost the morale of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said the development of the province is his dream and this is the right time to fulfil this dream, warning the top bureaucrats to pull their socks up or be ready to be held accountable.
“Two hundred billion rupees is a pretty good amount, enough to make Sindh a developed, neat, clean and green province; therefore, every member of the cabinet, bureaucracy and civil society has to work in accordance with the injunctions of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah to work, work and work,” he said while chairing a meeting at the New Sindh Secretariat.
The meeting focused on education, health, local government and works and services, and reviewed fund releases, said a statement. Health Minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro, Education Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar, Chief Secretary Siddique Memon, Principal Secretary Alamuddin Bullo attended.
Shah, who recently replaced octogenarian Syed Qaim Ali Shah as the new chief executive of Sindh, said that enough funds were available to implement the entire Rs200 Annual Development Programme. However, he stressed that only the construction of quality roads, schools and hospitals was not the objective, as keeping them functional was equally important.
He directed all the departments to submit PC-I so that the necessary staff could be made available for the schemes; otherwise, the construction of buildings was not a big deal.
In his briefing to the chief minister, Additional Chief Secretary Development Mohammad Waseem said he had received PC-I of the development schemes being launched under the Rs 10 billion Karachi package. As per the directives of the CM, the technical committee will meet today to approve them.
Education Secretary Syed Mumtaz Shah said 351 schemes in six different sectors had been launched against an allocation of Rs13billion, and of the 351 schemes, 140 were ongoing and 211 were new.
Replying to a question, he said 33 schemes worth Rs1,682.262 million would be completed this year.
He added that 63 schemes of Rs2.42 billion would be completed during the next financial year, for which 50 percent of releases had been assured.
The education secretary further said that Rs 4.16 billion development funds had been released so far, “which is unprecedented in history”.
Talking about the six sectors, he said that there were 94 schemes of elementary education of Rs1.3 billion, nine schemes of teachers education of Rs221 million, four schemes of Sindh Education Foundation worth Rs 446.2 million, 118 schemes of secondary education worth Rs 4.8 billion, 75 schemes of colleges of Rs4.5 billion, and 51 schemes of different categories worth Rs1.5 billion.
The chief minister directed the education department to be vigilant about the progress of uplift works; otherwise, they would be held responsible.
Works and Services Secretary Aijz Memon told the meeting that there were 613 schemes — 602 of highways and 11 of buildings — being executed by his department at a cost of Rs 9billion.
He said that during 2014-15, 607 kilometres of roads were constructed at a cost of Rs9.9 billion.
At this, CM Shah directed the ACS (Development) to carry out inspections of each and every road and then submit a report.
He said the works department during 2015-16, constructed 363 kilometres of roads, improved and repaired 555 kilometres and constructed 13 bridges.
The chief minister directed the Works & Service Department to activate all its engineers to ensure quality work and timely completion of the schemes.
In his briefing, Health Secretary Ahmed Bux Narejo said that their development portfolio stood at Rs14 billion for 146 schemes — 89 ongoing and 57 new.
The department has Rs7.6 billion capital and Rs6.35 billion revenue components.
Chief Minister Shah directed Health Minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro to monitor the purchase of equipment.
“You are a doctor and know better than me the importance of good equipment.”
Shah said: “I follow the teachings of Quaid-e- Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah to work, work and work. And this is the time I will urge all to not seek leave and to strengthen his hands to serve Sindh and deliver to the people of Sindh. This may be deemed as a ban on leave but leave would be granted if necessary.”
– originally appeared in The News
