Sindh’s public meetings reveal people’s myriad concerns
Cabinet members hold khuli katcheries across province to discuss public worries
Sindh Cabinet. PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI:
Unemployment, inflation, anti-encroachment drives, clean drinking water, schools for girls, the need for doctors, power outages, police complaints and even the attitudes of district officers - these were only some of the concerns expressed to members of the Sindh Cabinet on Saturday.
On the directives of Sindh chief minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah, the cabinet members for the first time interacted directly with the public in districts that were not their own constituencies, holding khuli katcheries (open meetings) across the province.
“The major issue that people were concerned with was jobs in the public sector,” said Murtaza Wahab, the CM’s adviser on environment, law and coastal development, adding they also lodged complaints against the police and highlighted the scarcity of water in Naushero Feroze district.
“I was expecting them to discuss the infrastructure,” he said, “but they wanted to resolve health-related issues too.”
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Wahab said that it was the first time the cabinet had been asked to visit areas that were not their home districts. “It will help us critically evaluate the performances of the local public representative,” he stated, urging that the practice should be carried out across the country so that people can interact with their representatives and government officials directly.
Across Sindh, except in Karachi, the cabinet ministers were joined by district officers, members of the national and provincial assemblies, local party leaders, and Pakistan Peoples Party supporters and voters. In most of the meetings, they issued directives to the district officers to immediately resolve the highlighted matters and submit their reports within a week.
Saeed Ghani, the Sindh labour, information and archives minister, said that people in Khairpur raised their voices against the conduct of government officials in their district, claiming that they demanded bribes and refused to resolve issues due to bureaucratic hurdles. He added that people were also worried about unemployment and had asked for better health and education facilities.
“These meetings will help restore the confidence that is sorely lacking between the people and the government,” he claimed. According to Ghani, he received 400 applications in the course of four hours and spoke to about a hundred people. He said that the government should continue to hold the meetings regularly, adding that they would help resolve the issues of the people.
In Sukkur, the matter on the minds of most of the people appeared to be the anti-encroachment drives, with people fearful about being displaced, according to Sindh energy minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh. This was followed by worries about unemployment and power cuts.
The energy minister said that the meeting reminded him of the tenure of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. “Such meetings took place frequently in Bhutto Sahib’s time,” he explained. “It is a good way for the public, government officials and public representatives to hear each other out.”
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Culture and tourism minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah was also met with concerns about the scarcity of drinking water in Matiari, where hundreds of people attended his meeting. “I felt that the second most important problem for the people there was the schools that are closed,” he said, explaining that people wanted the government to re-open schools for girls. Meanwhile, the unavailability of doctors was also highlighted.
“Rising prices were the number one issue in Sanghar,” said Ghulam Murtaza Baloch, the provincial minister for human settlement. He said that basic issues were raised in the meeting. “They complained about the issues they face in government offices,” he said. “There was also no water supply system in the area - even the town committee chairman was crying about this.”
The cabinet members visited 23 districts in the province. They will hold meetings with the people of Karachi on January 4.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2019.
Unemployment, inflation, anti-encroachment drives, clean drinking water, schools for girls, the need for doctors, power outages, police complaints and even the attitudes of district officers - these were only some of the concerns expressed to members of the Sindh Cabinet on Saturday.
On the directives of Sindh chief minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah, the cabinet members for the first time interacted directly with the public in districts that were not their own constituencies, holding khuli katcheries (open meetings) across the province.
“The major issue that people were concerned with was jobs in the public sector,” said Murtaza Wahab, the CM’s adviser on environment, law and coastal development, adding they also lodged complaints against the police and highlighted the scarcity of water in Naushero Feroze district.
“I was expecting them to discuss the infrastructure,” he said, “but they wanted to resolve health-related issues too.”
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Wahab said that it was the first time the cabinet had been asked to visit areas that were not their home districts. “It will help us critically evaluate the performances of the local public representative,” he stated, urging that the practice should be carried out across the country so that people can interact with their representatives and government officials directly.
Across Sindh, except in Karachi, the cabinet ministers were joined by district officers, members of the national and provincial assemblies, local party leaders, and Pakistan Peoples Party supporters and voters. In most of the meetings, they issued directives to the district officers to immediately resolve the highlighted matters and submit their reports within a week.
Saeed Ghani, the Sindh labour, information and archives minister, said that people in Khairpur raised their voices against the conduct of government officials in their district, claiming that they demanded bribes and refused to resolve issues due to bureaucratic hurdles. He added that people were also worried about unemployment and had asked for better health and education facilities.
“These meetings will help restore the confidence that is sorely lacking between the people and the government,” he claimed. According to Ghani, he received 400 applications in the course of four hours and spoke to about a hundred people. He said that the government should continue to hold the meetings regularly, adding that they would help resolve the issues of the people.
In Sukkur, the matter on the minds of most of the people appeared to be the anti-encroachment drives, with people fearful about being displaced, according to Sindh energy minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh. This was followed by worries about unemployment and power cuts.
The energy minister said that the meeting reminded him of the tenure of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. “Such meetings took place frequently in Bhutto Sahib’s time,” he explained. “It is a good way for the public, government officials and public representatives to hear each other out.”
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Culture and tourism minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah was also met with concerns about the scarcity of drinking water in Matiari, where hundreds of people attended his meeting. “I felt that the second most important problem for the people there was the schools that are closed,” he said, explaining that people wanted the government to re-open schools for girls. Meanwhile, the unavailability of doctors was also highlighted.
“Rising prices were the number one issue in Sanghar,” said Ghulam Murtaza Baloch, the provincial minister for human settlement. He said that basic issues were raised in the meeting. “They complained about the issues they face in government offices,” he said. “There was also no water supply system in the area - even the town committee chairman was crying about this.”
The cabinet members visited 23 districts in the province. They will hold meetings with the people of Karachi on January 4.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2019.