0
KARACHI, Oct 30: The Sindh government has decided to use modern technology to keep an eye on anti-social elements and criminals, to bring them to book and ensure that no outlaws go scot-free for want of witnesses.
One of the decisions pertains to planned installation of secret cameras at vantage points in Karachi and other cities and towns in the province to curb car hijacking, kidnapping and highway robberies.
The administration would also use helicopters and zoom cameras for surveillance of agitations, demonstrations and rallies.
The decisions were taken at a cabinet meeting held on Tuesday in the New Sindh secretariat, where Home Secretary Brig Mukhtar Ahmad and IG Police Kamal Shah briefed the meeting on the law and order situation in the province during the last fortnight.
Presiding over the meeting, Governor Mohammedmian Soomro stressed the need for close coordination between the intelligence network and other related services in the province to take effective action against anti-social elements.
The governor expressed concern over rising incidents of car hijacking, kidnapping for ransom and highway robberies and called for more effective steps to curb these crimes.
He appreciated the performance of law-enforcement personnel in Larkana, Sanghar, Shikarpur, Hyderabad, and Dadu where notorious bandits had been arrested after encounters.
The governor also directed the department concerned to allot lands among landless peasants in Kachcha areas to eliminate criminal activities.
The meeting was informed that important accused wanted in sectarian incidents had been arrested.
The cabinet expressed its sorrow over the Bahawalpur tragedy and observed a one-minute silence in memory of those killed there. The cabinet was given details of the security steps taken to protect the life and property of religious minorities and their places of worship, and it was informed that there were 246 churches and 242 temples in the province where security measures had been beefed up.
The cabinet directed all departments to dispose of their unrepairable vehicles by Nov 30 through auctions.
The meeting also approved an amendment in the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority Act (SIDA) of 197 to give representation to farmers organizations on its board. According to the amendment, five representatives of farmers would be on the board of SIDA and four representatives on the Canal Area Water Board.
The Sindh Minister of Local Government, Dewan Mohammed Yusuf, briefed the cabinet about the marathon session of Nazims and DCOs held on Monday. The meeting decided that ministers in their respective districts would establish close coordination with the elected representatives.
PRISONS: In view of a request from the IG Prisons, Brig Nisar Mehar, the cabinet allowed relaxation in its earlier decision to abolish all vacancies lying unfilled for the past one year and allowed the prisons department to fill 329 posts of executive officials and security guards.
However, it did not agree to a proposal for fresh recruitment on 80 other vacancies of low and technical staff and asked the department to meet this requirement from the surplus pool.
Earlier, the IG prisons made a presentation to the cabinet highlighting the urgency to review the abolition order for vacant posts as the prisons administration had been working under tremendous pressure due to a shortage of 409 officials, security guards and technical staff. These vacancies had occurred due to retirement, dismissals, and medical fitness. The problem had been compounded owing to the ban imposed on filling vacancies. At present out of 409 posts, 24 were of executive officials, 305 of security guards and 80 of menial and technical staff.
The report said if the decision to retain the ban and abolish vacancies lying unfilled for the past one year was applied to the prisons department in the light of the instructions of the finance department, it would create problems for the department working with prisons already overcrowded.
