Local bodies to have seats for transgenders

Cabinet approves sugarcane price at Rs302/40kg, purchase of 40 buses for Karachi also get the green light

KARACHI:

The Sindh Cabinet has taken important decisions, including fixation of sugarcane minimum price at Rs302 per 40kg for the crushing season 2022-23, approval of reserved seats for transgender people in the local councils, and purchase of 40 more buses under the Peoples Bus Service for Karachi.

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah presided over the meeting on Friday which attended by all the provincial ministers, advisers, special assistants, Chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, Chairman P&D Hassan Naqvi, PSCM Fayaz Jatoi, and other concerned officers.

CM's Advisor on Agriculture Manzoor Wassan told the participants that he has held a number of meetings with all the stakeholders, including growers and millers, to evolve a consensus on the new sugarcane price. The stakeholders had their own point of view.

Since the Punjab Government has fixed sugarcane price at Rs300 per 40kg, he suggested that the Sindh Cabinet fixed Rs302 per 40kg for the crushing season 2022-23, starting November 29, 2022. The Cabinet accordingly gave the nod of approval and also fixed the quality premium rate at 50 paisa per 40kg as approved by the Federal Government in 1989-99.

The Provincial Cabinet also approved reserved seats for transgender persons in the local councils. At the request of Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Shah, the Cabinet discussed allocation of reserved seats for the local councils for six categories, including women, youth members (one seat), labour or farmer (one seat), non-Muslims (one seat), persons with disabilities (one seat), and transgender persons (one seat).

The Provincial Cabinet, on the request of Transport Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon, approved an amount of Rs1.7 billion for the purchase of 43 more hybrid buses for the Peoples Bus Service in Karachi.

A proposal also came up for discussion to launch a Peoples Bus Service for tourist sites in the province. The Cabinet directed Culture Minister Sardar Shah to submit a written proposal, so that buses from Karachi to major tourist spots, such as Keejhar, Thar, and Ranikot could be launched.

The Sindh Health Department presented an agenda item with the request to hand over the administrative control of reduction of stunting and malnutrition to the Peoples' Primary Health Initiative (PPHI), Sindh.

Health Minister Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho told the Cabinet that the PPHI has already initiated nutrition services in Dadu and Jamshoro while the Health Department was running the programme in 21 districts.

The Cabinet approved the proposal and allowed the Health Department to hand over the programme to the PPHI. In the current financial year, the Sindh Government has allocated Rs2.9 billion for the reduction of stunting and malnutrition programme.

Procurement of 300,000 tons of wheat from PASCO was also green-lit by the Cabinet, so that the wheat requirement of the province could be met till the harvest of the new crop in early March. The Provincial Cabinet, on the request of the Social Welfare Minister Sajid Jokhio, granted approval to a proposal to sign an agreement with ANF to run two drug rehabilitation centers:

Labour Minister Saeed Ghani told the meeting that German brand KiK Textilian has contributed $1 million for relief for the families of the victims of Baldia factory fire and the compensation commission established by Sindh High Court, under the Chairmanship of Rehmat Hussain Jaffery, was assigned the disbursement of the funds.

The Cabinet was told that the German firm has also offered to provide a long-term compensation of $5.15 million, including a margin of $0.25 million to the ILO, to be distributed among the victims by way of a lifetime pension scheme through SESSI on a monthly basis.

Ghani told the Cabinet that the ILO, Geneva, wanted to transfer the fund to an insurance company as its payment agent. The Cabinet approved the request and allowed the Labour Department to sign an MOU with the ILO to transfer the funds to the insurance company, so that pension disbursement could be ensured from there.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2023.