Centre accused of interfering in Sindh’s affairs

Wahab accuses federal government of violating the Constitution

KARACHI:

The federal government has maliciously tried to interfere in provincial affairs, claimed Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab on Monday.

Addressing a press conference at the Sindh Assembly building on the day, Wahab claimed that the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf-led federal government does not believe in the law and has been violating the Constitution of Pakistan for the past two and a half years.

He dubbed the central government as 'incompetent' and 'anti-poor'. During Prime Minister Imran Khan's tenure, houses of the poor have been demolished but the PM's house was regularised, claimed Wahab. "This facility is not available to the poor."

If the house of the prime minister can be regularised at Rs 1.2 million, then why can't the house of a common man be regularised, asked the provincial advisor. Wahab further censured the Centre over the prevailing gas crisis. Sindh's domestic and industrial consumers, and transporters, are being affected by the gas crisis, he said. "Sindh produces 68 per cent of Pakistan's daily gas production, but Sindh needs 1400 MMCFD out of 24 and we are producing many times more than we need," he said.

The provincial advisor reminded that the premier had promised 10 million jobs and Federal Minister Asad Umar had promised to stand with the workers but four and a half thousand workers were fired during the pandemic. The provincial advisor further said that after the passage of the 18th amendment, the Centre has nothing to do with labour issues. Earlier, on Sunday, censuring the federal government for violating the the rights of the provinces, Sindh Labour Minister Saeed Ghani had maintained that the Sindh government has rejected "the illegal and unconstitutional seizure of Employees' Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) and the Workers Welfare Funds" by the Centre. Ghani maintained that the Centre has written a letter to an audit firm in an unconstitutional and illegal manner stating that it would manage EOBI and the Workers Welfare Fund. After the passage of the 18th Amendment many federal departments were transferred from the federation to the provinces after which the provincial assemblies made laws, said Ghani. According to him, the Sindh Assembly made 16 laws pertaining to labour.