Govt offers subsidy on essential items

CM lauds PM for announcing Rs25,000 as minimum wage

KARACHI:

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that his government is giving a Rs462 million subsidy on essential commodities such as flour, sugar and ghee for which 108 bachat bazaars have been set up in all the five divisions of the province.

"This subsidy would continue till the end of the holy month of Ramzan and simultaneously, the government is taking concrete measures to stabilize prices in the market."

This he said while addressing a press conference here at the CM House on Monday. He was flanked by his cabinet members Saeed Ghani, Sharjeel Inam Memon and Murtaza Wahab. Shah disclosed that his government has set up 108 bachat bazaars in all five divisions of the province, including 34 in Karachi, 19 Hyderabad, eight Mirpurkhas, 10 in Larkana, 17 in Shaheed Benazirabad and 19 in Sukkur. "The atta is being sold at all 108 Bachat Bazaars set up across the province at Rs. 400/10KG while the market price is Rs 800/10kg," he said. The CM added that his government was incurring a subsidy of Rs462 million on provision of atta at subsidized rates. About sugar and ghee, the CM said that at selected Bachat Bazaars, sugar is being provided at Rs70-75/kg against a market price of Rs85 to 90 per kg.

Similarly,Ghee is being sold at Rs 410/KG whereas its market price is Rs. 450/kg.Replying to a question, Shah said that his government does not have any ample resources to subsidise food items the whole year.

"Yes, we are working hard to stabilize the prices in the market," he said.

Minimum wage

Talking about minimum wage, the chief minister said that on the advice of the PPP leadership, he had announced Rs25,000 minimum wage, but the former federal government of PTI had resisted the move. "To me Rs25,000 are not enough for a worker to feed his five-member family the whole month but even then, it was a little relief," he said. Shah added he was happy that new Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, in his first speech on the floor of the National Assemvly, announced Rs25,000 as minimum wage which was an endorsement of his government decision

Mehar fire incident

The CM said that the unfortunate and painful incident of fire in village Faiz Chandio of Taluka Mehar in District Dadu claimed nine lives.

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"This was a tragic incident," he said and added he has got the assessment of the damages which come to around Rs.33 million.

"I had personally visited the unfortunate village and met with the affected family," he said. The VM continued that he had announced Rs500,000 compensation for lives lost and Rs200,000 for an injured person.

Shah said that his government has so far paid Rs4.6 million to the affected families. He added that the NDMA has also announced a compensation package of Rs.10 million, of which Rs. 7.5 million has been paid. Relief articles, including tents and ration has been provided to all the affected families and sufficient items are in hand at the site to recoup, he said.

Shah thanked the prime minister for giving Rs10 million compensation to the affected villages. Talking about the administrative action taken so far, the CM said that deputy commissioner Dadu has been transferred and Commissioner Hyderabad Division has been directed to explain his position while the District Health Officer (DHO) Dadu, Assistant Commissioner Mehar, Mukhtiarkar Mehar and Town Officer have been suspended.

Giving details of strategic actions, Shah said that directions have been given to all concerned to immediately put in place the Rescue 1122 System and implement its key components.

He added that the Status of fire tenders across the province was being assessed and immediate measures would be taken for their operationalization after repairs.

Shah also said that two more fire incidents took place in as many other villages: village Noorpur Deh But Sarai where 20 Katcha houses were burnt and in Jhando Khan one village where a katcha house was reduced to ashes.

He added that all concerned stakeholders rushed to the sites and completed rescue operations well in time, therefore no loss of lives had taken place and now damage assessment was under way.

Load-shedding

Shah said that 12 to 14 hours of load-shedding was being resorted to in rural areas of the province. "I had taken up the issues with Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif during the meeting with him at the CM House," he said.

He continued that the prime minister immediately directed the concerned ministry to resolve the issue. The chief minister deplored that the outgoing PTI government made over 700 MW power plant dysfunctional for want of fuel.

"Look at their inefficiency that they could not place orders for purchase of fuel for power plants in time, therefore people have been forced to face 12 to 14 hour power outages," he said.

As far as load-shedding in the city is concerned, the CM said that he has talked to the MD KE not to resort to load-shedding. The electricity shortfall of the KE has been met by the federal government.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2022.