Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has directed the officers of Irrigation Department to take steps stop stealing of water with the help of Sindh Police and Rangers and ensure its availability up to the tail end in each district of the province.
He also asked the public representatives to monitor the situation closely. The Chief Minister was talking to media persons after the special cabinet meeting held here at the Deputy Commissioner Office on the other day.
Qaim Ali Shah said the shortage of water was a global issue. However, the present government was making all out efforts to fulfil the requirements through efficient utilisation of water with better management.
He said that the government was aware of the problems of the growers, who had already suffered due to flood in 2010 and heavy rain in 2011. He said that the current financial year had been declared as ‘Development Year’. The government had undertaken the development work costing Rs 2.5 billion only in Dadu district in addition to that made in last four years, he added.
He said Dadu was an important and historical city of the province and the government was launching mega development schemes here, including the establishment of Cadet College, Sindh University Campus, hospitals, Pir Illahi Bux Law College and Shaheed Shahjehan Park.
He said that the people of Dadu were experiencing difficulties of drinking water. For the purpose, the government has launched development schemes for converting saline water into sweet water, which will be completed in next six months, he added.
He said that the plant for this scheme had been imported at the cost of Rs 400 million. Such schemes will also be implemented in Johi, K.N. Shah and Mehar as well.
He said that the present PPP government was providing jobs directly and indirectly though skill training in different trades.
He said despite world recession, the government had provided 90,000 jobs to youth as compare to 30,000 by the US Government besides getting bailout package.
Moreover, the government has trained 160,000 youths in different trades, one third of them have been absorbed in private sector. Beside, he said that poverty alleviation programme has also been launched under which 250,000 women have also been provided training in different trades. Responding to a question, the Chief Minister said that PPP government had due respect for the judiciary and he was optimistic that there would be no collision among the institutions. However he maintained that each institution should follow the constitution. Responding to another question about the reduction in the numbers of voters in electoral list, the Chief Minister said that the government had taken the notice and constituted a committee to approach Election Commission in order to ascertain the reason in this direction.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2012
