CM Murad lifts moratorium on govt hiring, bans sheesha, gutka

KARACHI: The Sindh cabinet decided on Saturday to lift the ban on government recruitment that was in place since August last year.

Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, while presiding over a cabinet meeting, said this step would help improve the performance of the government departments as vacant positions would be filled and reduce poverty through job opportunities, particularly for the youth.

This was the fourth cabinet meeting since Shah took over as the chief minister two months ago. 

The chief minister said unemployed youngsters wanted the government to lift the ban on recruitment.

“It is an appropriate time to lift the ban because the government is trying to improve the efficiency of all government departments. This will be possible when all the vacant positions are be filled on merit,” he said.

The chief minister ordered all departments to start holding departmental promotional committee meetings so that deserving officers were promoted to vacant posts and the rest of the vacancies could be advertised though the press.

There are around 90,000 vacant positions in the provincial government set-up and its subsidiary organisations, almost half of them promotion posts. Therefore, around 50,000 positions would be filled through the selection committee and the Sindh Public Service Commission according to their pay scale. 

The chief minister made it clear to all cabinet members that there would no compromise over merit.

Indo-Pak tensions

The cabinet demanded that the prime minister convene an all-parties conference on the Indo-Pakistan border tensions so that national unity and a strategy could be developed on this important issue.

The participants of the meeting condemned the Indian aggression on the Line of Control. They also paid tribute to the soldiers martyred in a skirmish with the Indian Army on the LoC in Kashmir.

The cabinet on behalf of the people of Sindh assured the Pakistan Army of their full support. 

CPEC security

The participants of the meeting also discussed the terms of reference and standard operating procedure of the Special Security Division (SSD) South (Sindh and Balochistan) being created by the federal government to provide security to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.

The SSD will have nine infantry battalions comprising a force of 9,000 soldiers and six wings of 4,502 civil and military personnel.

The federal government has requested Sindh to grant policing powers to the SSD in the area of their operation.

The cabinet members expressed their reservations saying that police stations were working there and if a parallel force was created with police powers, there could be serious clash of mandate and laws. 

The chief minister said the Sindh government was committed to provide security to the CPEC projects and their manpower, but the reservations expressed by cabinet members were justified.

Therefore, the chief minister constituted a committee under his own chairmanship with ministers Nisar Khuhro and Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani and law adviser Murtaza Wahab to examine the request and frame recommendations for the federal government.

The cabinet authorised the chief minister to talk to the federal government and make a decision on the SSD accordingly.

Ban on sheesha, gutka

The cabinet decided to impose a ban on sheesha smoking and its cafes, the consumption of gutka and mainpuri.

The health secretary said sheesha smoking was equal to smoking 150 cigarettes in a single go.

About nine litres smoke is inhaled when a person smokes a sheesha in a single session. The cabinet imposed a ban on sheesha, gutka and mainpuri and directed the IGP to ensure it was implemented.

Market timings

The chief minister taking the cabinet into confidence said he had made a decision to fix the timings of shops and markets from 9am to 7pm while the closing time of wedding halls would be 10pm.

The cabinet appreciated the decision and a committee comprising industries minister Manzoor Wassan, labour adviser Senator Saeed Ghani, and information adviser Maula Bux Chandio was formed to talk to traders, the managements of wedding halls and other stakeholders.

The chief minister taking the cabinet into confidence urged the IGP to take action against the vehicles plying on the roads with “Applied for Registration” plates.

He said he had directed the excise department to register all Chief Minister’s House vehicles and issue them number plates.

Shah added that he had installed a registration number plate on his official car and removed the monogram of “Wazir-e-Ala Sindh.”

He also directed the chief secretary that every vehicle, even hose used for protocol duty, must have the standard registration number plates.

Muharram security

IGP AD Khowaja briefed the cabinet about the security plan chalked out for Muharram. He said there would be sufficient personnel in uniform and civvies guarding majalis and mourners across the province.

He said the CCTV system had been upgraded but more cameras were needed.

The chief minister directed the IT department to provide 200 CCTV cameras in their possession to the police department.

The IGP said police and Rangers in close coordination with intelligence agencies were monitoring borders and made fool-proof security arrangements for Muharram.    

The chief minister directed parliamentary affairs minister Nisar Khuhro to bring all the private bills in the cabinet meetings for discussion.

He added that he wanted to discuss a private bill on the issue of dowry soon.

The cabinet also discussed some draft bills and sent most of them to cabinet committee for further discussions.

--Originally published in The News