CM blames ‘a political party’ for ‘injustice’ to Sindh

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in an oblique reference to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has said that a political party has misled the judiciary with regard to the recruitment in government departments.

"An injustice has been done to the people of Sindh because of a political party," he said while talking to the media in Dadu and Sehwan on Saturday.

On June 29, the Sindh High Court cancelled appointments made in 2023 by the PPP government before it completed its third tenure in some 140 government departments and sub-ordinate wings. The order was given on a petition filed by the MQM-P which claimed that over 54,000 jobs were either sold out or distributed on a political basis by the PPP's provincial government.

The Sindh government, however, has claimed that around 10,000 employees were recruited. The SHC directed the government to announce the vacancies afresh and ensure a transparent recruitment process.

CM Shah said the appointments were also made in compliance with the court's order on the basis of merit. According to him, as pledged in the court, the government has already started work on conducting fresh recruitments against those vacancies.

Power outages

The chief minister said that although a load management regime is being enforced across the country, outages in Sindh far exceed any other province. "The people of Sindh are in pain because of this big injustice," he said.

He pointed out that the provincial government was supplying around 3,000MW cheap electricity from Tharparkar based coal power plants to the national grid. But the province and its people are still made to suffer during such a scorching hot summer season. Shah said the provincial assembly as well as PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has time and again raised their voice in this regard.

The CM welcomed Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif's decision to call an all parties' conference to support the 'Azam-e-Istehkam Vision'. "Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's nod for attending the APC is also a positive step," he added.

Commenting on the preparations being made for monsoon rains, CM Shah said that the federal government has been requested to reinforce weak embankment of Main Nara Valley (MNV) drain which previously caused flooding during heavy rains.

He said the recovery of a Hindu trader Naresh Kumar, who was kidnapped from Matiari district, is an achievement of the Sindh police. "Soon the smart city surveillance system will be installed in the divisional headquarters of the province," he added.