April 20, 2008	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1429

KARACHI, April 19: Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Saturday declared that his government would follow an integrated policy in all provinces to address problems and stressed that all political parties should play their role for progress.

Addressing a meeting of the Sindh cabinet at the Chief Minister’s House here, the prime minister said political forces could join hands on issue-to-issue basis in Sindh. His remarks, according to sources, hinted at reconciliation between the PPP and MQM.

The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, all the 21 ministers and three advisers. The Sindh chief secretary and some provincial secretaries were also present.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri said that Mr Gilani had given the ministers two weeks to get familiarised with their departments.

The prime minister said meetings of chief ministers and provincial ministers would be held in Islamabad to discuss issues like NFC, water, provincial autonomy and wheat.

Ms Marri said fateha for the slain chairperson of the PPP Benazir Bhutto was offered at the start of the prime minister’s address.

Referring to the issues and problems highlighted by ministers, the prime minister observed that since these were mostly related to finances, the government would first improve the treasury.

Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah gave a presentation on problems faced by the province because of the previous government’s “wrong policies”.

According to Ms Marri, Mr Qaim drew Mr Gilani’s attention to the NFC issue, urging him to resolve the problem on priority basis.

Referring to the 1991 accord, he said that despite Sindh’s reservations, it could be made a basis for determining apportionment of irrigation water.The chief minister also complained that Sindh was being charged interest at a rate higher than the bank rate on a Rs31 billion loan.

Qaim Ali Shah sought the centre’s help in the execution of Sindh’s development plans. Mr Shah also informed the prime minister that the provincial government was working on a proposal to set up a bank to provide soft-term farm loans. Referring to the wheat crisis, he said his government’s target was to procure 600,000 tons of the staple and it could exceed 700,000 tons if the support price was raised.

He said although the federal government had fixed the support price at Rs625, farmers were selling their produce at Rs750 in the market.Shazia Marri said the Sindh government had decided to raise the salary of police constables, besides allowing them to avail weekly offs and other facilities enjoyed by their colleagues in Punjab.

She said the cabinet “felt that the local body system was not effective and there was a need for reviewing various laws”.