SA standing committee meeting: Minority affairs ministry didn’t spend a rupee on schemes

Ministry’s secretary, officials fail to attend meeting.


Hafeez Tunio April 30, 2011

KARACHI:


The Sindh ministry for minority affairs has not spent a single rupee of its development budget, even though the financial year is complete. One hundred million rupees was allocated for the budget.


Members of the Sindh Assembly standing committee on minority affairs and officials of the planning and development department met to discuss the budget proposals for the next year on Friday. The planning department said the deadline to submit development schemes was Saturday (today) but no minorities MPA had come up with any ideas.

This was the second meeting the minorities secretary and senior officials of the ministry failed to attend. “The officials have breached the privilege of elected representatives by not attending the meeting,” complained MPA Saleem Khurshid Khokhar who was chairing the meeting. “We will complain to the Sindh Assembly speaker before moving a privilege motion against the [minorities] secretary,” other members of the standing committee said. The meeting was convened on the directives of the Speaker, but bureaucrats were not willing to participate, they added.

Khokhar said not a single penny of the development budget had been used because of a “lack of coordination among officials concerned.” “We have no idea about the progress of the department and what proposals have been made.”

The chairman reminded the minorities MPAs of Saturday’s deadline. The MPAs proposed an increase in the budget, from Rs100 million to Rs150 million. But planning officials said, “We are already facing a financial crunch and a 50 per cent raise will not be possible. But we can increase the budget by 10 to 15 per cent.”

Evacuee Trust Property Board

The Evacuee Trust Property Board — that looks after evacuated properties and buildings that belonged to those who migrated to India after the 1947 partition — will also be devolved to the provinces after the 18th Amendment. “It is clearly mentioned in the Pakistan Peoples Party manifesto that a non-Muslim would be made the trust’s chairman. However, a military man has been handling its affairs. We demand the running of the trust be transferred to the provinces by appointing a member from the minorities’ community to take charge,” recommended PPP MPA Pitanber Sewani.

Grievances of minorities

The PPP MPA lashed out at the minorities’ minister: “Kidnapping for ransom is on rise in Sindh. People threaten Hindu girls to change their religion before marrying them. But the minister has not bothered to visit any grieved family.”

Sewani said Rs200 million had been allotted in 2008 for the renovation of Sadhu Bela Temple in Sukkur, but no work has been done. “We don’t see the ministry playing any role in the development and working for the rights of the Hindu community.”  He said the community had been complaining against the minorities minister who, according to them, is not even present at his office.

Members at the meeting also expressed concern over the shortage of staff. “This is the first department in the province that does not have a district-level officer.” The appointment of 100 employees was recommended.

A minorities member, requesting anonymity, said that his community had rendered many sacrifices for the country, but they are being completely ignored in return. “We are supposed to have equal rights, but we don’t. The government does not even implement the 5 per cent job quota.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30th, 2011.

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