KARACHI: The Sindh government on Thursday directed the law department to prepare a draft law to regulate collection of hides and other donations so that income and expenditures of all such welfare organisations could be audited.

The decision was taken at an apex committee meeting held with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in the chair to review implementation of the decisions taken under the National Action Plan. Eleven of the 20 NAP points discussed at the meeting pertained to the Sindh government.The chief minister said those who had been issued NOCs to collect pelts of the sacrificed animals should be asked to get their accounts verified. “I want to see how much funds they generate from the hides and where they spend the amount,” he said, adding that this was very necessary to keep an eye on the utilisation of funds collected in the name of welfare.

“I want documentation of donations. There should be a proper regulation and mechanism for giving and accepting donations,” he said.

Besides, he added, there should be a limit to give donation in cash otherwise donation must be given through cheques. He directed his adviser on law, Murtaza Wahab, to submit a draft legislation for the purpose on a priority basis.

Apex body seeks joint strategy to check inter-provincial movement of militants

Earlier, Sindh IG A.D. Khwaja informed the apex committee that number of hide snatching cases had dropped drastically this year, with only four such incidents reported in Sukkur and two others in Karachi.

The chief minister said he had some reports that the outfits banned by the authorities were resurfacing with new names. The trend must be stopped immediately with an iron hand, he said, adding that banned groups could not be allowed to resume their work this way. To curb the practice, not only such organisations be banned but their office-bearers and members be also included in the Fourth Schedule, he added.

The apex body was told that a joint strategy was needed to check inter-provincial movement of terrorists. Those involved in the Khanpur incident, and the recent terrorist activities in Shikarpur and Jacobabad had penetrated these areas from Balochistan, it was pointed out. The chief minister said he would talk to the Balochistan government as well as the federal government to evolve a joint strategy in this regard.

About performance of the law enforcement agencies, Mr Shah was informed that only 19 of the 465 convicted terrorists were executed, while the appeals of 379 convicts were pending before the Sindh High Court, 61 before the Supreme Court of Pakistan and one before the Federal Shariat Court.

The Sindh government had recommended 105 cases for trial in military courts but the ministry of interior cleared only 29 cases of them for trial.

Besides, necessary legislation including Sindh Sound System (Regulation) Act, 2015 and Sindh Information of Temporary Residents Act, 2015 had been carried out for the implementation of NAP decisions. The police chief said 2,115 cases were registered under the Sound System Act and 1,556 people were arrested for the violation of the law.Meanwhile, the chief minister directed the police chief to expedite the appointment of 2,000 ex-army men for the security of the Chinese people. Mr Shah said China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was bound to usher in development and prosperity in the country in general and in Sindh in particular. Therefore, necessary security arrangements must be made for the Chinese coming to Sindh for CPEC projects, he added.

The meeting, which was attended by Chief Secretary Siddique Memon, IGP A.D. Khwaja, Advocate General Zamir Ghumro, Prosecutor General Shahadat Awan, Principal Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch, Home Secretary Riaz Soomro and others, was informed that the Sindh government had already issued standard operating procedure for the security of the Chinese.

Besides, the chief minister directed the police chief to also ensure security of the Chinese working on non-CPEC projects.

The meeting was informed that the federal government had already raised a Special Security Division (SSD) comprising nine infantry combat battalions of Pakistan Army with a force 9,000 personnel and six wings of civil armed forces of 4,502 personnel for the security of CPEC projects and the Chinese people.

However, the provincial government was yet to give its input in the Terms of Reference (ToR) for SSD. Under the ToR, there would be a dedicated headquarters for each CPEC project.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2016