Contributory pension scheme approved

Cabinet declares Karoonjhar Mountain 'national heritage'; bans bottom trawling

KARACHI:

The Sindh cabinet, in its meeting at the CM House, made several decision besides approving the implementation of the Sindh Defined Contributory Pension Scheme 2024 starting from 1st July 2024. Under the scheme the government as well as employees will contribute at a provisional rate of 12 per cent and 10 per cent respectively.

The cabinet approved the insertion of a new subsection in the Section of the Sindh Civil Servant Act 1973.

According to the proposed amendment, "an individual who is appointed or regularized as a civil servant on or after the commencement of the Sindh Civil Servant (Amendment) Act, 2024, will be considered a civil servant, except for pension and gratuity. Instead, they will participate in a Defined Contribution Pension Scheme as prescribed. In place of pension and gratuity, the civil servant will be entitled to receive the amount contributed by them, along with the contributions made by the government to their account in the mentioned fund, in the prescribed manner.

Karoonjhar Mountain

The Sindh cabinet in the light of Sindh High Court Circuit Court Mirpurkhas decided to declare Karoonjhar Moutain/Range comprising 21,000 acres as a protected heritage and directed the culture department to notify in the official Gazette.

Ban on bottom trawling

The Livestock & Fisheries dept told the cabinet that fisheries sector plays a vital role in contributing to food security, bringing economic opportunities and providing a significant share of livelihood. However, overfishing, destructive fishing techniques and the use of prohibited nets have contributed to the deterioration of economically important fish stocks.

The cabinet approved the amendment in the Fisheries Rules 1983 under which no person would be allowed to fish with an encircling net or improvised purse seine net locally called "wire net" or ring net and bottom trawl net locally called "trawls" or "Gujja", Gujjo or Gujji, in the creek areas of the province and up to twelve nautical miles from the shore along the coast and territorial waters of Sindh.

Sugar export

The Agriculture Dept told the cabinet that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had approved a Cash Freight Support of Rs10.70 per kg for sugar export in September 2017. This support was to be shared equally by the provincial and federal governments, and the provincial share was to be paid to sugar mills through the State Bank. Additionally, the Sindh government announced an extra cash freight of Rs9.30 per kg on sugar export.

However, the payment to sugar mills was halted by the federal govt institutions. The High Court of Sindh, Karachi has issued orders for the release of outstanding amounts to the sugar mills. The cabinet approved the release of Rs3.3 billion to the State Bank for further distribution to the relevant sugar mills as 50 per cent of Cash Freight Support at Rs10.70 per kg.

Furthermore, the cabinet also sanctioned Rs281,966,700 for further disbursement of payments through Sindh Bank to the concerned sugar mills on account of Additional Cash Freight Support at Rs 9.30 per kg.

The State Bank of Pakistan and the Cane Commissioner of Sindh will be responsible for disbursing the released amounts to the concerned sugar mills, the cabinet said.

RO plant

The Sindh cabinet approved Rs434.109 million to operationalise the Islamkot Mega RO plant of 1.5 MGD in district Tharparkar. The chief minister directed the Public Health Engineering Department to expedite the rehabilitation of the RO plant within the next three months for the benefit of the local population.

Benazir Hari Card

The cabinet approved the issuance of the Benazir Hari Card to the haris having a maximum of 25 acres of land. Various kinds of subsidies, facilities, relief, and distribution of Bardana for wheat procurement and other government interventions aimed at farmers/tentants and landholders of agricultural land may be provided to Benazir Hari Card holders.

Shifting of control

The Sindh cabinet approved shifting of administrative control of the Sindh Institute of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (SIPM&R) from the Health Department to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPD) because the Sindh Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SEPD) Act 2018 gives an exclusive mandate to the DEPD to protect all rights of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).