Sindh cabinet meeting: government to disallow wheat quota to defaulting flour mills

The Sindh cabinet in its meeting held under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has decided to prohibit wheat quota to the flour mills involved in plea bargain/VR, defaulters of the government dues and non-functional flour mills and chakis.

The provincial government in order to control wheat/flour price has purchased wheat from PASSCO and decided to release the wheat quota to the flour mills at a subsidies rate of Rs3,450 per 100 kg bag.

The cabinet decided that the wheat would be released to functional flour mills on body formula and to the chakis on `stone Formula'. However, wheat would not be released to the flour mills involved in Plea bargain/VR, government dues defaulters and non-functional mills/chakis, however the defaulters have been given 15 days to pay their dues and get the quota.

The functional flour mills owners will have to show the electricity bills of their mills to prove their functionality.

The mills which would get their quota and would not function would be liable of penalty, including payment of subsidy the government had given on the wheat.

The cabinet was told that the flour mills in plea bargain/VR have paid Rs2 billion to NAB. The chief minister directed the chief secretary to coordinate with NAB authorities to get back the collected amount of Rs2 billion.

Recruitment Policy: The cabinet decided that the recruitment from grade BS-1 to 4 would be made through selection committee. The recruitment from grade BS-5 to BS-15 would be made through third party and above grade BS-15 by SPSC.

The local recruitment from grade BS-1 to BS-4 would be made by a selection committee headed by deputy commissioner under section officer of S&GAD and other concerned officers as member. On divisional level the selection would be headed by the commissioner as chairman and section officer of finance would be its member apart from the members of the concerned departments.

The chief minister constituted a high power committee with Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Minister Energy Imtiaz Shaikh, Minister Labour Saeed Ghani, Advisor Law Murtaza Wahab and Secretary Services to work out a mechanism for recruitment from grade BS-5 to grade BS-15 and submit their recommendations within 15 days. The chief minister directed police department to make their recruitments through IBA.

Wildlife Act 2019: The Sindh cabinet after thorough consultation approved Sindh Wildlife Protection, Preservation, Conservation, and Management Act 2019 with the objective to avail their current and potential value by the present and future generations in the protected areas of the province. In the definitions, animals have been declared as animals of wild origin, terrestrial and or aquatic that includes fish, birds, reptiles, mammals, amphibians and their eggs, excluding livestock. Ibex has been declared as animal of Sindh.

Under the newly passed law by cabinet a nine-member council for conservation of Wildlife has been established under minister/advisor or special assistant for wildlife department. The function of the council will be giving vision and guidance for sustainability of wildlife.

The new law prohibits hunting, shooting, killing, trapping, snaring and poisoning of wild animals found therein. The hunting of game animals shall be regulated in a prescribed manner.

The cabinet approved the bill and referred to the assembly for passing it into a law.

Forest policy: The cabinet also approved Sindh Sustainable Forest Management Policy, 2019 with the objective to maintain, restore, enhance and sustainably manage the forest resources by following highest standards of professional forestry, promoting public awareness and participation, strengthening institutional capacities and mobilising stakeholders' support.

SCDA: The cabinet was told that the Sindh Governor has referred back the amendments in Sindh Coastal Development Authority (SCDA) with the observation of interfering in the jurisdiction of Pakistan Maritime Security. The cabinet was told that the SCDA was existing from 1994. The amendment made in the law was to authorise the authority to carry out development in the coastal belt which could not be termed as interference. The cabinet approved the bill once again and referred it to the assembly.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019