Sindh looks to simplify issuance of succession certificates

Cabinet agrees to enact Letters of Administration and Succession Certificates Bill, 2020

The Sindh government decided on Wednesday to enact the Letters of Administration and Succession Certificates Bill, 2020, to make it easier for citizens to get succession certificates and letters of administration.

Currently, succession certificates, that allow legal heirs to establish ownership of movable assets, and letters of administration, which authorise an administrator to take control of and dispose of the estate of a deceased person, are issued by the court. Following the enactment of the bill, citizens will be able to obtain the documents directly from the National Database and Registration Authority.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the Sindh Cabinet.

Speaking at the meeting, Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab said presently, the letters of administration and succession certificates were being issued under the Succession Act, 1925 by the courts. He pointed out that obtaining the documents from the court was a lengthy process and that the enactment of the bill would not just expedite it, but would also help curtail fraud and forgery. Hence, the law may be enacted, as it had been by the federal government, insisted Wahab.

The cabinet approved the proposed draft law and referred it to the provincial assembly.

Headmasters

The officials of the school education department informed the cabinet that 2000 principals for educational institutions had been appointed on contract basis through the Institute of Business Administration, Sukkur in 2015.

However, the contracts are about to expire, the cabinet members were told.

In this regard, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani told the cabinet that the court had directed that principals be appointed via the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC).

But appointments through the SPSC would take some time, said Ghani, suggesting that the duration of the employment of contract-based principals be extended until then. The cabinet agreed to the suggestion and directed the education chief secretary to ask the SPSC to expedite the appointments.

Irrigation dept lands

Besides, the cabinet was told encroachments on the irrigation department's lands, in its colonies and along its channels had been identified and their details were shared at the previous cabinet meeting.

Sindh Irrigation Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal informed the cabinet that in the first phase, encroachments were being removed from operational areas. He assured that encroachments would also be removed from the irrigation department's lands where commercial activities had been started. The cabinet directed the irrigation department to expedite the removal of encroachments.

Purchase of vehicles

The cabinet also took up the requests of different departments for the purchase of vehicles.

However, provincial Ministers Shabbir Bijarani and Mukesh Kumar Chawla told the cabinet that a large number of vehicles, particularly of 800 cc and 1000 cc models, that were not in use could be made operational after minor repairs.

They proposed that instead of purchasing new vehicles, out of order vehicle be repaired and allocated for use by government employees.

The cabinet approved the proposal and also constituted a committee, headed by Bijarani, to devise a policy for the allocation of government vehicles to entitled employees. Bijarani was also directed to devise a policy for the auction of abandoned vehicles and submit proposals in that regard within 15 days.

Low-cost housing

Moreover, the cabinet constituted a committee for identifying land for establishing low-cost and medium-cost housing settlements in katchi abadis in Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2021.