KARACHI, July 8: Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has asked the Sindhi press to play its role in removing sense of deprivation among Sindhi population. He was speaking at the breakfast hosted for editors of Sindhi dailies at the State Guest House here on Thursday.
"I want an end to this sense of deprivation because some people exploit it," he said, and adding that such an exploitation should also end now. If some problems have resulted in the development of the sense of deprivation, then problems existed everywhere, including Balochistan and even Punjab, he observed.
"People of my constituency complain about certain problems, but this should not lead to a sense of deprivation. People all over the country generally face all sorts of problems but this is not an issue confined to a particular province."
The prime minister pointed out that the sense of deprivation was in its severity in Sindh province. However, he added, problems should not be related to the sense of deprivation.
He called on the Sindh government and Sindhi press to appoint a lobbyist for Islamabad because, he said, most issues did not reach the capital. Giving an example, he pointed out that if a murder took place in Gujranwala, it became known to everyone immediately and the incident also echoed in assemblies and even the Prime Minister House.
However, a little information reached Islamabad about happenings in remote areas of Sindh. He suggested that Sindh should appoint a coordinator or lobbyist to take the province's issues to proper fora.
"Sindhi press can also play its role in this regard so that common man and officials sitting in Islamabad could also know about happenings in Sindh. The prime minister asked the editors to identify the problems that could be solved within a short time so that he could take steps within his tenure which ends on August 18.
One of the editors pointed out that the advertisements for jobs in government departments and public corporations were not being publicized through Sindhi-language newspapers.
The prime minister asked Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed to take remedial measures. Shaikh Rashid assured the meeting that he would issue directives in this regard.
The PM was also apprised of the injustice to Sindhi-speaking people in government jobs and posting. He said that this was because of the faulty domicile system as on the quota of Sindh people, those from other provinces got the jobs. He, however, held out the assurance that the matter would be looked into.
Sindh Minister Imtiaz Shaikh, who was present on the occasion, agreed to a point raised by an editor, and said that many senior officers of grade 21 and 22 were sitting in Sindh and they could be accommodated in federal departments. He also agreed that the number of federal secretaries from Sindh was very negligible as compared to other provinces.
Senator Nisar Memon suggested that Sindhi newspapers should conduct a study about percentage of Sindhi officers in government services and another study on population-based matters.
Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said he wanted to provide maximum relief to common people during his tenure. Pointing out that the issue of wheat movement had been resolved despite the Punjab government having adopted a different point of view, he said that power tariff in Sindh would also be brought at par with the other areas of the country.
Shaikh Rashid, on a point raised by an editor, said that the federal government was working on the issue of road user tax. President Musharraf, he said, was conducting an indepth study on this issue whereas three meetings had already been held in this regard.
The proposal was to charge 10 paisa on each litre of petrol as road user cess, he said and added that the only hindrance in deciding the matter was that how to distribute the tax among the provinces.
Chaudhry Shujaat, talking about amendments to Political Parties Act, said that it was being demanded by other political parties, including those in opposition. Others present at the meeting were Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Sindh Information Secretary Mehtab Akbar Rashidi, Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Ashfaq Gondal and Naib Nazim Karachi Tariq Hassan. -APP
