January 26, 2008	Saturday	Muharram 16, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 25: All the district coordination officers (DCOs) have been asked to complete legal formalities before Feb 4 regarding the claims filed by the victims of the violence that had erupted in the aftermath of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s assassination on Dec 27.

The DCOs were also directed to adopt a joint strategy along with the secretary of the food department for initiating action against profiteers and hoarders of wheat flour and other essential commodities to bring stability in prices.

These directives were issued to the DCOs at a meeting held here on Friday presided over by Sindh Chief Secretary Fazlur Rehman.

Besides all the 23 DCOs of the province, provincial election commissioner Chaudhry Qamaruz Zaman and Capt (retd) Usman Ali Esani, chairman of the commission set up by the federal government to assess the losses incurred and determine compensation to the victims, also attended the meeting.

They were also directed to appear individually before the commission on Jan 29, 30 and 31 in the office of the senior member board of revenue as the 30-day time limit given by the federal government for the settlement of such cases would end on Feb 4.

The meeting also decided to set up a committee, headed by Home Secretary Arif Ahmad, comprising DCOs of all the affected districts and representatives of civil society.

The committee would analyse the components of disturbances, performance of police and other law-enforcement agencies and formulate a strategy as to how to tackle such situations in the future. The committee was asked to submit its report within 15 days to the chief secretary.

The meeting expressed its displeasure over the slow pace of the issuance of “Bank Pass Book” to the farmers regarding farm loans and directed the DCOs to expedite the process and submit a monthly report to the chief secretary in this regard.They were also directed to report to the returning officers regarding their office requirements. Others who were present at the meeting were additional chief secretary development Ghulam Sarwar Khero, secretaries home, finance, health, agriculture, and irrigation and the senior member Board of Revenue, Syed Anwar Haider.