HYDERABAD, Nov 28: Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim has said that the government is actively working on the NFC Award and it will be finalized by the end of current financial year.
He was talking to a group of journalists at the wedding ceremony of the daughter of Pir Taj Mohammad Jillani at Dargah Pir Noor Mohammad Jillani, Tando Allahyar taluka, on Sunday.
He said it was for the first time that the Sindh government had assigned the task to technical experts to prepare their recommendations after considering all aspects of the NFC Award with a view to get a satisfactory share from the federal divisible pool.
He said new districts in Sindh would be created by delimiting heavily-populated and big districts such as Larkana, Dadu, Jacobabad and Mirpurkhas to facilitate people to resolve their problems.
The Sindh chief minister termed the MMA movement as a movement by Qazi Hussain Ahmed of the Jamaat-i-Islami and not by the JUI as the role of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, according to him, was better as compared to that of Qazi Hussain Ahmed.
He said the movement would be foiled by the government to maintain national harmony and brotherhood. He said that an agreement on the code of conduct between the Sindh government and the MMA had been signed under which the MMA was bound to conduct their public meetings in a peaceful manner.
He made it clear that no one would be allowed to take the law in his own hands. He said the Jamaat had created problems for governments and jeopardised peaceful atmosphere since the birth of this country.
The Sindh chief minister said it was obvious from Mr Zardari's statements that some powers were behind his release and even he (Mr Zardari) intended to negotiate with the government to share power.
He said if Mr Zardari really wanted to share power, he would have to come with open heart. He said administrators would be appointed by the end of this year to run the business of local government system and to ensure free and fair elections of local bodies to be held in 2005.
The Sindh chief minister said that the authority concerned had been assigned to prepare feasibility reports for the construction of small dams so that water could be conserved and utilized for irrigation purposes.
Replying to a question, he said that the water situation in Sindh was improving as such 60 per cent water was available for irrigation purposes. About increasing number of polio cases in Sindh, he said that he had warned the health department to take all possible preventive measures and accelerate the anti-polio campaign in such a way so that no new case emerged.
He said that doctors engaged in the anti-polio campaign were intentionally lingering the anti-polio campaign due to some lucrative packages being given to them by the organization working against polio.
He said the Sindh government was paying Rs1,200 per day per bed to all hospitals as compared to Rs400 per day per bed being given to the Meo Hospital in Lahore but the delivery of service of the Meo Hospital was better than hospitals in Sindh.
