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| April 27, 2002 | Saturday | Safar 13, 1423 |
Musharraf pledges end to deprivation
MIRPURKHAS, April 26: President Gen Pervez Musharraf said here on Friday that he was well aware of the sense of deprivation prevailing in Sindh regarding the scarcity of water and inadequacy of sufficient number of Sindhi people in the law enforcement agencies, including military, rangers and coastguards.
He, however, pointed out that his government had issued directives to remove the feelings of deprivation in Sindh by providing due share of water and recruiting Sindhi youths in rangers, coastguards and army.
The president was speaking to the elected representatives, notables and office-bearers of the NGOs at the Circuit House here on Friday.
Restating his oft-repeated assertion that he was a Sindhi as he belonged to Sindh province, he assured the participants that no injustice would be done with Sindh under his leadership; and hoped that Sindhi and Baloch brothers would be recruited in law enforcement agencies. However, he urged them to raise their educational standard to compete with the people of other provinces.
All the people living in Sindh province were Sindhis and Pakistanis, he added.
He paid rich tributes to the Muslims of the country, as their reaction to the massacre of the Muslims in Gujrat (India) was rational and a measured one.
He assured the members of the minority community that they were safe and and no one could stop them from enjoying their rights in Pakistan.
The country, Musharraf assured, would soon get better recognition in the comity of nations by the continuation of reforms and devolution of power.
He said his government had adopted a strategy to spent more funds on the development schemes for the backward areas. It was the government’s responsibility to provide more resources to the backward districts of the country, he added.
Musharraf asked the people of Sindh not to pay attention to those people who were indulging in negative propaganda about the dams because Sindh would be the main looser due to this thinking.
As the silting capacity of water reservoirs of Mangla and Tarbela was decreasing by the day, he said, there was a need for new water reservoirs.
Referring to the complaints against Punjab for taking water more than its due share, he said telemetry system would be installed at all the barrages and dams of the country.
The president said Chhotiari dam would be completed by December 2002 with a capacity of 0.7maf storage.
Over 3,000 tubewells were being installed in the areas where underground water was sweet, he said.
THAR COAL: Musharraf assured that the government would provide sufficient amount of new drainage system for Mirpurkhas town; besides, Mirpurkhas would also get the benefit of Thar coal.
He said within a week a team of experts would be visiting China for signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the utilization of Thar coal.
Besides, the government was planning to run a fast train service between Mirpurkhas and Hyderabad and widening of Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas road, he went on to say.
He further said he had directed PASSCO to procure wheat at Rs300 per maund from the abadgars, and assured that the TCP would buy the cotton lying in the cotton factories.
The president announced that branches of Khushhali Bank will be opened in each district of the Pakistan.
Low-cost housing schemes would also be initiated under which land would be provided at low rates to the poor on the instalment basis.
Referring to the demand for the establishment of a university, he assured that decision will be taken in this regard after discussion with the Sindh governor.
Earlier, Syed Inayat Ali Shah, taluka Nazim, Mirpurkhas, presented President Musharraf the key of the Mirpurkhas city.
Sindh Governor Mohammadmian Soomro, district Nazim Mirpurkhas Pir Shafqat Hussain Shah Jilani and Tharparkar district Nazim Arbab Attaullah, also spoke on the occasion.
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