Making govt depts hostage

REFERRING to the controversy over postings in health and education departments, Kawish writes that at district level, all Sindh government departments seem to have fallen prey to mismanagement but the plight of the two departments is worst.

The daily says that in the past, the departments of police, revenue and irrigation used to be considered to be attractive ones for officials and politicians patronizing them. However, after the World Bank and other international donor agencies started funding projects in health and education sectors, these two departments have also assumed a charm for the corrupt people.

Kawish adds that it has led to a tug of war among the officials who want to be district heads of the departments. The situation has been further worsened by the involvement of political leaders. Every political leader who has a say in the government wants to ensure the appointment of his favourites in police as well as health and education departments of his area.

The lingering dispute over the offices of the district executive officers of health department in Mirpurkhas and Badin is a glaring example of the situation which is adversely affecting the performance of the two vital departments and leading to the suffering of the people, the paper laments.

It calls on the Sindh government to immediately take notice of the situation and ensure that transfers and postings are made only on the basis of merit and no political interference is allowed.

Commenting on the brutal murder of three women and a 12-year-old girl on Eid day in the Ghotki area, Sindhu says that the Sindhi society has recently been gripped by barbarianism the main target of which are women. It is the men who make and dispute decisions on matrimonial and other family matters but they kill innocent women to humiliate each other.

The government as well as civil society have failed to come to the rescue of the women which has given a licence to kill to their murders, the paper says.

Ibrat points out that Larkana has been gripped by lawlessness as the incidents of child killing, kidnapping, robberies and tribal clashes have become order of the day in the district. It calls on the authorities to make the district administration and police accountable for the rising crime in the area.

On a national note, Tameer-i-Sindh takes up the issue of the Legal Framework Order and writes that a renewed tension over the LFO controversy between the government and the opposition is expected in December. The daily urges the government to resolve the dispute in a democratic way and also contact the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy in this respect.