KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah chaired a cabinet meeting held at CM House here Wednesday.
Several important decisions, including the establishment of the Directorate of Inclusive Education to tackle the issue of mainstream public and private schools denying admission to mild autism were taken.
Besides that abolishing the provision of jobs on the Deceased Quota as per Supreme Court order, establishment of the Sindh Peoples Rural Civic Services Company to ensure clean water and sanitation for the rural population were discussed.
Furthermore, the meeting revised the criteria for the appointment of vice-chancellors and formation of a committee to address shortcomings in educational boards were discussed in detail.
All provincial ministers, Advisors, Special Assistants, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, PSCM Agha Wasif and the concerned secretaries attended the meeting.
The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPD) apprised the cabinet that the major issue was a denial of the mainstream Public and Private Schools to admit mild autistic, slow learner and borderline children in their schools.
These children are compelled to go to special schools, which is a clear violation of the prevailing laws.
The chief minister, with the unanimous nod of the cabinet, and keeping in view the law and establishing inclusive education, approved the creation of the Establishment Directorate of Inclusive Education under DEPD to implement a joint strategy/policy developed by DEPD and the School Education Department.
The Directorate of Inclusive Education aims to address the denial of admission for mild autism in mainstream public and private schools.
The cabinet was told that the Supreme Court had passed an order on 26.09.2024, whereby the Apex Court held recruitment against Deceased Quota inter-alia under Rule 11-A of the Sindh Civil Servants (Appointment, Promotion and Transfer) Rules, 1974 are declared to be discriminatory and ultra-virus under Articles 3, 4, 5 (2), 18, 25(1) and 27 of the Constitution.
Given the orders of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the cabinet approved the deletion of Rule 11-A from the Sindh Civil Servants (Appointment, Promotion & Transfer) Rules, 1974.
The Sindh cabinet approved the establishment of “Sindh Peoples Rural Civic Services” under the Sindh Transformational Accelerated Rural Services (STARS) initiative.
This aims to provide clean water and sanitation to 61 per cent of Sindh’s population living in rural areas, where 70 per cent lack access to clean water and 65 per cent lack proper sanitation.
Murad Shah said that with a 2.5 per cent annual population growth, urgent action is needed to prevent rural schemes from collapsing.”
He added that the World Bank has committed $400 million for this initiative, which will operate in eight districts including Tharparkar, Umerkot, and Mirpurkhas.
The strategy includes a monthly contribution of Rs 1000 from households for maintenance and emphasises community engagement for behavioural change.
The expected benefits are improved health outcomes, economic growth, and sustainable rural development, along with community empowerment and gender-inclusive governance.
To address issues and shortcomings in the functioning of the Educational Boards, the University & Boards department suggested certain amendments in the Sindh Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education Ordinance, 1972.
The cabinet constituted a committee with the Minister of Education Syed Sardar Shah, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah and Secretary U&B to sit together and give recommendations for improving the functions of educational boards.
The cabinet was told that In response to the advertisement, a large number of applications were received. Three hundred (300) have applied for Chairmen, 119 for secretaries, 140 controllers of examination and 69 for audit officers.
To ensure transparency and merit-based appointments, it was unanimously agreed upon by all stakeholders to conduct interviews through the search committee in which the chief minister would induct two experts [in the committee].
The cabinet outlined the updated criteria for appointing Vice Chancellors (VCs) across various universities. The details include:
General Universities: A VC must be an eminent academic eligible for a full professorship or a public sector administrator (BPS-21+) with four years of experience and a relevant Master’s degree. A PhD in the relevant field is preferred. Appointments made by the Chief Minister will be for four years, extendable by another term. The maximum age for applicants is 62 years.
Specialized Universities such as Engineering Universities VC must hold a PhD in engineering and meet HEC professor criteria.
Medical Universities VC candidates must be either full professors with a postgraduate fellowship or PhD or senior public sector administrators (BPS-21+) with an MBBS and Master’s.
Law Universities VC candidates must have an LLM or equivalent qualifications as eminent academics or judicial professionals.
IBA Universities VC should be a PhD-qualified professor or senior administrator (BPS-21+) with a Master’s in a relevant field is required.
Veterinary Universities to have VC with a PhD in Veterinary/Animal Sciences or senior administrative qualifications (BPS-21+) with relevant degrees are needed.
The amendments to the Public Sector Universities Acts were approved to standardise these criteria, ensuring leadership with strong academic and administrative backgrounds. The approved draft law referred to the assembly for legislation.
In recognition and distinct honour of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s enduring legacy in promoting democracy, federalism and social justice, the cabinet decided to establish a new autonomous institution namely Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Institute for Democracy and Federalism (SBBIDF).
The current three Benazir Bhutto Chairs at the University of Karachi, University of Sindh, Jamshoro and SALU, Khairpur are to be integrated with the new Institute.
The cabinet also approved Rs.300 million for the institute during the financial year 2024-25.
The law of the institute referred to the assembly for discussion and approval.
The Cabinet also approved the Draft Act for establishing the M.H. Panhwar Institute of Sindhological Studies in Jamshoro. The objective of the institute is to promote and conduct research in the fields of natural and social sciences and to foster close collaboration between different research institutions and organizations in the province at both regional and international levels.
The institute aims to contribute to the intellectual development of Sindh and to enhance understanding of its culture, history, and society.
It was noted that, to date, the institute has digitised and made available over 6,000 rare books through its online platform.
In the backdrop of establishing the Sindh IT Company, the cabinet approved the amendment to the Rules enabling the department to promote best practices in Digital Transformation through Business Process Re-engineering for the provincial government.
Establishing Science Labs, Cities, and IT Parks in partnership with academia and industry. Facilitating collaboration between the public and private sectors in Science and IT.
The cabinet approved the allotment of four acres of land to HESCO at Deh & Tapo Bhitshah, Taluyka Hala, District Matriari for the establishment of 132 KV Grid Station at the rate of Rs. 4 million per acre.
On the request of M/s Pakistan Gas Solutions Ltd (PGSL), the cabinet approved the issuance of a Letter of Support for a feasibility study for LNG/RLNG and LPG port at Keti Bunder area. PGSL will bear the risk and cost without any obligation to the Sindh government.
The cabinet allowed the Energy Department to enter into a 25-year (extendable by another term of 25 years) Lease Agreement with PGSL. Based on the study the Sindh government will be entitled to negotiate and sign a financial benefit-based Implementation Agreement with PGSL.
The cabinet was told that The Lakhra coalfield in Jamshoro covers 1,309 sq. km (323460 acres) and holds an estimated 1.328 billion tons of coal, while the Sonda/Jhimpir coalfield in Thatta spans 1,822 sq. km (450226 acres) with reserves of 7.112 billion tons.
The provincial government has collected Rs 970 million in royalties from 2,586,666 tons of coal extracted at Rs 375 per ton.
To improve monitoring, the chief minister approved the installation of automated electronic weighing machines by a third party for the 220 permit holders operating over 225,000 acres, as the current regulations lack measures to assess coal production.
Proposed technology includes electronic weighbridges, a cloud-based toll management system for centralized data processing, and high-resolution CCTV cameras at checkpoints.
The cabinet was told that with its approval, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Feb 25, 2021, between the Sindh government and Sukkur IBA for the conduct of a general screening test for appointment in BPS-5 to BPS-15 for all the provincial departments which has expired on Feb 25, 2024.
The cabinet approved the Renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding for the conduct of general screening tests for appointments in BPS-05 to BPS-15 for all the departments with Sukkur IBA.
The cabinet approved appointment of CEO Trans-Karachi Tariq Manzoor Chandio, a BPS-19 officer with the primary purpose of implementation of the BRT RedLine Project on modern business lines, funded through loans from Asian Development Bank (ADB), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and Green Climate Fund (GCF), along with counterpart funding from the Government of Sindh, under a project agreement signed in June 2020.
The cabinet approved a Rs 2.3 billion matching grant for Hassan Suleman Memorial Hospital, being established over an area of 2.25 acres of land in Malir. The hospital would be established within two years.
Drug Court Dharmun A Akhani, the retired senior judge appointed as a full-time member of the drug court.
The cabinet approved a three/four-month extension to the retiring professor of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical College Layri, by the time the health department was directed to appoint fresh professors.
The cabinet appointed Aijaz Memon, a retired secretary, as Chairperson Commission for the Protection of Journalists and Other Media Practitioners.
The Sindh cabinet has appointed Dr Nabila Shah Jilani as an unofficial member of the Sindh Coal Authority Board.
