Sindh cabinet decides to export 5m tonnes of wheat

The bill for Sindh language engineering institute was also approved

KARACHI: The Sindh Cabinet on Wednesday decided to export five million tonnes of wheat through open sale, establish a provincial grid company to generate more than 792KV of renewable resources, and approved the bill of Abdul Majid Bhurgri Institute for Language Engineering (AMBILE).

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah at the New Secretariat. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, all provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants and other officials.

The meeting also adopted a resolution that read "This cabinet condemns the violation of Pakistani air space by the Indian Air Force and sees it as a brazen violation of international law.

The cabinet also rejects the false and malicious propaganda of India against Pakistan and resolves that the government and the people of Sindh stand united against any possible Indian aggression.

The cabinet also appreciates the well rounded and measured response of Pakistan Army against claims and remains committed to defend our country."

Reservation on procurement

The food department requested the cabinet to set a new procurement target of wheat for crop 2018-19, however, it proposed a target of 500,000 tonnes. The department had procured 1.4 MMT wheat during the last crop at a rate of Rs1,300 per 40kg (Rs3,250 per 100kg). The department informed the cabinet that there was net 800,000 tonnes of wheat in surplus with the food department, of which 360,000 tonnes was from last year's crop.



The cabinet decided to export 500,000 tonnes of wheat through 'Open House Sale'. A committee was constituted under Food Minister Hari Ram in order to talk to the exporters and facilitate them.

Many of the cabinet members opposed the fresh procurement drive saying that it [procurement] had never given any benefit to the small growers. The purpose of the procurement was to stabilise the wheat prices in the market, to encourage small growers and store some stock in the food department for emergency or shortage of wheat.

The cabinet decided to talk to exporters first for export of wheat and then procurement target would be decided in the next cabinet meeting.

Provincial Grid Company

The energy department requested the cabinet to approve the establishment of a provincial grid company so that four grid stations generating 792KV of renewable energy could be constructed.

AMBILE

The Sindh Education & Culture Minister Sardar Shah informed the cabinet that with a view to provide for development and advancement of Sindhi language engineering and to bring Sindhi on a par with national and international languages, it is expedient to establish the Abdul Majid Bhurgri Institute for Language Engineering (AMBILE).

The minister culture informed the cabinet that the building for AMBILE has been constructed in Hyderabad. The institute would also have the facility to convert old printed Sindhi books into word form to reprint them. In this way all the old and precious books could be reprinted.

The cabinet approved the bill and referred it to the assembly.

Cancellation of MOU with NICVD

The health department requested the cabinet to cancel the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the health department and National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) Karachi so that the management of cardio vascular units established by Sindh government in its hospitals and other medical institutions could be taken over.

The cabinet was informed that the Sindh government had passed an act 'Sindh Institute of Cardio Vascular Diseases (SICVD) - 2018', therefore newly created health facilities of cardio vascular diseases have become a part of SICVD.

The chief minister said that the provincial government has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court to take back all three institutions, NICVD, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and National Institute of Child Health (NICH) from the federal government. At this stage, cancellation of MoU may affect the case. Therefore, he constituted a committee to review the legal position of the matter.

New taxes

The Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) proposed to levy Sindh Sales Tax on health services and life insurance, cable operators and contractors and construction services. The CM said that at present the overall financial position of the people of Sindh was not stable. Therefore, these proposals may be placed in the next meeting of the cabinet so that these levies could be imposed from the next financial year.

The cabinet also approved the Sindh Public Finance Administration Act 2019 under which more financial powers have been devolved to the field and administrative officers.

The cabinet approved the recruitment rules of Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and appointed Advocate Manzoor Hussian Larik as secretary of Board of Governors of Law Colleges affiliated with Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2019.