Former ministers, bureaucrats have 24 hours to hand over govt vehicles

CM expresses zero tolerance for violators using fancy licence plates

KARACHI: Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has directed chief secretary Siddique Memon to give 24 hours to former ministers and bureaucrats to surrender official vehicles to the government without any further delay.

He was chairing a cabinet meeting on Monday. "Please issue the notice to these people," he said. "I am giving 24 hours to return the vehicles they are using without authority."



Regarding unregistered number plates, the chief minister also directed the services and general administration department to remove the licence plates from off-road and obsolete government vehicles meant for auction and surrender the same to the excise department. "I am going to implement traffic rules strongly, therefore everyone has to follow," he said.

CM orders action

Taking notice of un-registered vehicles and fancy number plates, the CM asked the IG to take action against offenders irrespective of how influential they are. "I am giving you full authority to take action against MPAs, ministers, advisers and special assistants using fancy number plates," he said. He added that besides taking action, the public should also be sensitised to avoid using these kinds of vehicles.  "There are reports that officials are using fuel quotas of government vehicles that are lying idle in garages," claimed information adviser Maula Bux Chandio.

Sectarian violence

Shah reiterated his previous stance and said there is zero tolerance for those who want to create sectarian unrest in the province. "The government has started a ruthless operation against terrorists and those who are fanning flames of sectarian violence in the city," he said.

The meeting began with a briefing by Sindh IG Allah Dino Khawaja on the law and order situation. He said that on Muharram 7, a conspiracy to create sectarian violence in the city unfolded when two persons were killed in Gulistan-e-Jauhar. The police and Rangers conducted a combing operation and arrested some terrorists after the incident, said Khawaja.



He said that just after Ashura, a wave of sectarian killing emerged again. The CM convened a special meeting last Saturday and decided to intensify the operation, through which some major developments have been made by arresting key terrorists, said the IG.

Quotas

Appreciating the lifting of a ban on recruitment of the allocated 15% quota for women's jobs and 5% for minorities' jobs, the cabinet decided to implement the quota in letter and spirit.

The chief minister said that he was paying special attention to the development of the province. "You will be surprised to learn that by this date the finance department has released Rs93.1 billion out of the Rs225 billion provincial and district [Annual Development Programme] against which Rs31 billion have been utilised," he said. "The utilisation figure seems to be not very good but it will turn out to be satisfactory when payment of bills is [completed]."

CCI meeting

The cabinet expressed reservations on the reluctance of the federal government to respect the 18th Amendment in terms of its failure to hand over the functions and assets of its different ministries and divisions to the provincial government.



The cabinet felt that the federal government was trying to go back off on the 18th Amendment. The cabinet also expressed reservations on the reluctance of the prime minister to convene the meetings of the Council of Common Interest (CCI). It authorised the chief minister to write a letter to the prime minister to convey their concerns about the non-implementation of the 18th Amendment and not convening a CCI meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8^th, 2016.