Sindh Culture, Antiquities departments: tug of war over powers, functions continues

The tug of war between Sindh Culture and Antiquities departments over powers and functions is continuing because meeting of ministerial committee, which has the mandate to decide this matter could not be held for the last 6 months, Business Recorder has learnt.
Sources said on Monday that before carving out a separate portfolio of Antiquities and handing it over to Jamil-uz-Zaman on December 3, 2010, Antiquities Department had been part of the Culture Department, run under Minister Sassui Palijo. Earlier also officials of the provincial government had separated Tourism from Culture, before the separation of Antiquities.
After the establishment of separate department for Antiquities, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah had constituted a ministerial committee with mandate to decide powers and jurisdictions of the two departments, sources said. Ministers Jamil-uz-Zaman and Sassui Palijo, Hameed Haroon, Yasmeen Lari and others were committee members, sources said. But, despite passage of about 6 months, the committee could not sit once, leaving the functions and powers of the two departments undecided.
In this situation, the work of both departments has been affected badly and many files regarding important issues are pending in many sections of the two departments, sources said. Although, there are two separate Ministers and Secretaries for the two departments but rest of the staff is same, who are facing many problems owing to above mentioned situation, sources added.
It is interesting to mention here that subjects of Culture and Antiquities have been separated but the provincial government has not allocated funds separately in Annual Development Program (ADP) 2011-12, while funds of Antiquities have been added in Culture department, sources said. Antiquates Minster Jamil-uz-Zaman already has the portfolio of Inter-provincial Co-ordination and he is also the Chairman of Sindhi Adabi Board.