KARACHI, Jan 24: Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad terming the local government system a silent revolution said it succeeded in overcoming the hurdles of feudal mindset on the road to progress and now its fruit have started reaching to the common man.

The governor was talking to a 30-member delegation of nazims and naib nazims from the NWFP province led by Federal Minister for Political Affairs Amir Muqam. Besides law and order, the governor briefed the delegation on the development projects being undertaken by the government.

Ishratul Ibad said Karachi was the engine of country’s economy and its progress resulted in the prosperity of the entire country.

Talking about development projects, he said the recently built Bagh Ibne Qasim, which was one of the largest parks in the country, was developed in a very short span of time. This would provide recreational facilities not only to Karachiites but also to the people from every part of the country, he said.

He said the city had multiethnic culture and people hailing from every part of the country, including Pakhtoons, were living here with harmony except sometimes when certain vested interests tried to create a law and order situation but failed to achieve their objectives.

The governor said maintenance of law and order was prerequisite for progress. He said initially there were some difficulties owing to the past neglect but now the province had made a good progress in different fields in the short period.

Work on projects like education reforms, repair of main arteries, construction of flyovers and underpasses to improve traffic flow and development of recreational spots was in full swing, he said.

He said due to improvement in the financial health , the province which used to be in deficit and under the burden of overdraft was in a better position and its development budget allocation had increased from Rs4 billion to Rs34 billion in last four years.

The governor said elimination of poverty was the biggest challenge which was also being worked out as top priority.

Federal Minister for Political Affairs Amir Muqam lauded the efforts of the governor and his team for the development of Sindh.