New Inspector General of Sindh Police Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar on Monday called on Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah.
The police department has a pivotal role in maintenance of law and order in Sindh, the chief minister said while talking to the police chief.
The chief minister directed the new police chief to take steps for improvement in law and order in the province. “The police should take more steps for protection of life and property of general public,” Chief Minister Shah said.
“I want a police department that creates a sense of relief and protection and not a cause of concern,” the chief minister said. IG Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar assured the chief minister steps for further improvement of the law and order in the province.
The new Sindh IG will take charge of office today, a spokesperson of the chief minister of Sindh has said. The federal government appointed the new police chief in light of the Sindh government’s demand.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Feb 1 had penned his third letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan to remove Inspector General of Police Kaleem Imam and pick one of the five names recommended by the provincial government for the top police office in Sindh.
The chief minister said the federal cabinet’s Jan 28 decision to put the issue on hold is a violation of a 1993 agreement. He insisted that one of the five names floated for the post be chosen to replace the incumbent IG.
Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar, a BS-22 officer of Police Service of Pakistan, was earlier serving as Inspector General, Pakistan Railways Police. Meanwhile, Kaleem Imam was transferred and posted as the National Highways and Motorways Police inspector general.
Meanwhile, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in his ongoing district development meeting reviewed 288 development schemes worth Rs 11.96 billion for three districts of Shaheed Benazirabad division and directed the departments concerned to complete 207 top priority schemes for which the funds have already been released.
He urged the elected representatives of the districts to give ownership to the ongoing development works so that their quality and pace could be ensured besides making them operational in the public interest properly. The meeting was also attended by Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah and provincial ministers, Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, Saeed Ghani and Murtaza Wahab.
The meeting was told that in Shaheed Benazirabad district, 145 uplift schemes with an allocation of Rs5.77 billion are in progress against which Rs3.76 billion funds have been released while the utilization upto the end of February was Rs2.58 billion. The meeting was told that there were 31 schemes worth Rs337 million which would be completed by the end of current financial year because the government has released their 95 percent funds in one go and the remaining amount would also be released this month.
The chief minister said that his government had set a priority to provide water and sanitation schemes to every district. “Presently, the Public Health Engineering Department has launched 18 schemes of water and sanitation in Shaheed Benazirabad for Rs5.7 billion and these all schemes will be completed by the end of next financial year,” he said and urged the elected representatives to check the quality and pace of work of the uplift schemes.
The school education dept has launched 14 schemes, local government dept 24 schemes, works & services dept 35 schemes, irrigation dept 14 schemes, health dept nine schemes and rural development dept seven schemes in Shaheed Benazirabad district.
In Naushehro Feroze district, 66 schemes worth Rs3 billion are in progress against which Rs2.2 billion have been released while their expenditures are Rs1.48 billion.
It may be noted that out of 66 schemes, 45 would be completed by the end of current financial year. There are 11 schemes worth Rs107.6 million for which 100 percent funds have been released in one go while the funds of 16 other schemes worth Rs1.2 billion are being released in two installments.
The chief minister said that there were 18 district-specific schemes worth Rs1.1 billion for which 90 percent funds had been released and their 82 percent work had been completed. He directed the departments concerned to complete those 18 schemes by the end of current financial year.
On the demand of the elected representatives of the area, the chief minister decided to establish a Chest Pain Centre at Mehrabpur and said that later it would be upgraded as Cardio Hospital. The chief minister also ordered health department to provide ambulance service to the people of Naushahro Feroze.
In Sanghar district, 77 uplift schemes worth Rs3.1 billion are in progress against which Rs1.99 billion funds have been released while their expenditures so far are Rs1.26 billion.
Out of 77 schemes, funds for 14 schemes worth Rs1.55 billion have been released in one go while the funds of 14 other schemes worth Rs1.4 billion are being released in two instalments. The chief minister expressed his displeasure over the progress of the 14 schemes for which government has released total allocated amount. He directed the departments concerned to expedite the uplift works and keep him reported about the progress of the schemes regularly.
