Govt serves another blow to the governor's authority

Control of Sindh Sports Board wrested from governor, objections to bills brushed aside

KARACHI: In the ongoing battle between the governor and chief minister, the former has been subjected to blow after blow, with his powers being stripped away at every turn under the guise of the 18^th Amendment that has empowered provincial governments.

The tussle between the two offices reached a boiling point on Wednesday when the Sindh Assembly removed the governor from his chairpersonship of the Sindh Sports Board and handed over the powers to the CM. The assembly also dismissed the governor’s objections to the regularisation of 15,649 National Testing Service (NTS) qualified contractual teachers. After widespread protests in Karachi, the assembly passed the law on February 26 and sent it to the governor who refused to give his assent.

Earlier, the assembly passed a controversial amendment to the provincial Universities Act, snatching powers from the governor and Centre and handing them over the CM. The assembly also pushed aside his objections to the legislation and passed it for a second time.

During Wednesday’s session, which was chaired by speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, Parliamentary Minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro moved a bill to amend the Sindh Sports Board Ordinance, 1980. "After the 18th Amendment, the role of the governor is just ceremonial. He has no authority in provincial matters. So, we are now amending this ordinance and shifting powers from governor to chief minister," he explained.



According to the law, the Sindh Sports Board will now be chaired by the CM with the provincial sports minister as its vice-chairperson. Meanwhile,  the finance secretary or someone nominated by him not below the rank of an additional secretary, commissioners of all divisions in Sindh, the colleges secretary or his nominee, representatives of the planning and development department, deputy sports secretary, deputy sports directors of all divisions and four representatives of associations nominated by the government will be members of the board. The Sindh Sports Board organises sports activities, especially tournaments, in the province and nominates local players for national and international games.

NTS teachers' bill

The assembly also turned down the governor's objections to the Sindh Regularisation of Teachers Appointed on Contact Basis Bill, 2018. When the bill was sent to him for assent, the governor did not sign it and instead returned it to the assembly with the message "I, Mohammad Zubair, governor of Sindh, in exercise of the powers under Article 116 (2) B of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, do hereby return the bill to the provincial assembly of Sindh for reconsideration with the following observation."

He went on to say that "the contractual appointments of teachers under the teacher recruitment policy 2008/2012 were made to address the issue of non-availability of teachers at union council and taluka levels. These appointments were thus made area specific. The passage of this bill categorically kills the spirit of the policy which was meant to revive the teacher-deprived schools of far-flung areas of Sindh.”



He advised the assembly to revisit the provisions in the bill and ensure that upon regularisation, the teachers will not be transferred from their initial places of appointment as long as the position on which they are working exists unless they are promoted to a higher scale. After reading the governor’s message, Khuhro put it in the House, which rejected the objections with majority votes. The assembly passed the bill again with a minor amendment, which reads, “The transfer of any teacher, whose service is regularised, shall be allowed only on the condition that it shall not have any adverse effect on the working of that school and shall not disturb the specified student teacher ratio”.

After the session, Khuhro told the media said that the governor is empowered to return the bill to assembly with a message, but the assembly has the mandate to reject or pass the bill. "After the governor's message, if the bill is passed by the majority vote, it will be again presented to the governor to give assent in 10 days, failing which such assent shall be deemed to have been given," he explained.

Earlier, the assembly was informed that provincial government has prepared the Sindh Wildlife Protection Act, 2014 for effective protection of animals in the province. Responding during the question and answer session, Khuhro said the provincial government was going to reorganise and restructure the wildlife department.



"Periodical surveys are planned for the first time in history and new heads have been created, which is the key to effective protection," he said, adding that breeding farms and game farms are being encouraged in the private sector in order to reduce pressure on natural resources. After the agenda was finalised, speaker adjourned the session till today (Thursday).

Protest

During the session, Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Nadir Magsi, who belongs to Kamber Shahdadkot district, warned his own government to arrest the real culprits involved in rape and murder of a minor girl in Karachi or else people from his tribe would take the law into their own hands.

"The girl belongs to my Magsi tribe. People are enraged and emotional over [the incident]. The police have arrested innocent people not the rapists and murderers," he lamented, asking the government to take action otherwise the situation will get out of control.