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HYDERABAD, Jan 2: Defending his decision of creating Shahdadkot district with headquarters in Qambar Ali Khan, Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim has said that a plan to bifurcate Hyderabad is also under study.
He said setting up of the district headquarter in Qambar instead of Shahdadkot led to misunderstanding otherwise demarcation was welcomed by people. He was replying to questions of newsmen at the Valima ceremony of Riaz Hussain Shirazi and Fayaz Hussain Shah Shirazi, sons of his adviser Aijaz Shah Shirazi, here on Sunday.
The chief minister disclosed there was a demand for bifurcating Hyderabad but all pros and cons were being examined before taking any final decision because rural and urban populace were involved.
Replying to a question that the district government did not want bifurcation of Hyderabad, he asked which district government would agree to such a proposal. He claimed the government's attitude towards the opposition was good and its up to the latter to act in a responsible manner.
Dr Arbab said the Sindh government had prepared the case of the NFC and hopefully. the prime minister would convene a meeting in January. He said the recent public meeting in Gujrat addressed by President Musharraf should be sufficient to analyse the current political scenario in the country.
He said a Gujrat-like public meeting would be organized in Sindh. He said the government wanted that assemblies should continue until 2008 and expressed the hope that President Pervez Musharraf should continue beyond 2008. He said the president would, hopefully, continue beyond 2008.
FUND RELEASE: Taking notice of ineffectiveness of the Shah Owais pumping scheme which irrigates 12,000 acres in Sann, the chief minister is reported to have ordered the release of Rs650,000 forthwith for the repair of machinery.
Sources said the Sindh government had allocated Rs1 million for reactivating the Shah Owais pumping scheme but the funds were not released. The sources said during his recent visit to Sann, the chief minister ordered the release of Rs650,000 immediately for machinery repair and directed the irrigation department to make the pumping scheme operational within 15 days.
DEMONSTRATION: Over two dozen primary teachers appointed on contract for three years in 2001, staged a demonstration outside the press club here on Sunday in protest against the non-regularization of their services.
Talking to reporters, Ismail Barecho, Mashooq Khoso, Arbab Khaskheli and Umer Shoro said they were appointed on contract by the Sindh Public Service Commission for three years but their services had not been regularized.
They claimed services of contract teachers in other provinces had been regularized and demanded that services of contract teachers of Sindh should also be regularized.
