KARACHI: The provincial legislature was informed on Friday that the Sindh social welfare ministry had not made any appointment during the last fiscal year owing to a Supreme Court order banning new recruitments.

Shamim Mumtaz, adviser to the chief minister on social welfare, said on behalf of the chief executive in answer to queries of members of the Sindh Assembly during question hour of the day’s session that not a single appointment had been made in grade- 1 to 15 during 2016-17 in the ministry.

MPA Kamran Akhtar of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had sought grade-wise and district-wise details about the number of persons appointed in the ministry during 2016-17 along with the procedure adopted for the purpose.

However, Ms Mumtaz said, 25 female and 35 male social officers in grade-17 were appointed in the ministry in 2016 on the recommendation of the Sindh Public Service Commission.

She said the criteria for the appointment of officers as per notified recruitment rules was a masters degree in sociology or social work disciplines with at least second division secured from a recognised university.

Answering another question by the same member about the appointments in the ministry made during 2015-16 along with the procedure followed, Ms Mumtaz gave an identical answer, repeating that no appointment had been made in the ministry during the period under review.

The house, mostly involving female members from the opposition benches, briefly echoed with bitter words exchanged with Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani when they asked about number of female employees in the ministry.

The members wanted to know why the number of women was less than their male counterparts but Ms Mumtaz did not agree. “We have women in greater numbers. I have not the exact numbers at present but we have equal opportunities for men and women and we encourage women to avail of opportunities,” said Ms Mumtaz.

MPA Khairunnisa Mughal asked about the number of officers in the ministry along with staff working in Mirpurkhas district. She was told the sanctioned strength working and vacancy position of officers and staff members in Mirpurkhas was: 15 officers in grade 17-19 of whom nine were working while six positions were vacant.

Besides, she added, there were 90 employees in the grades lower than 17, of which 69 were working and there were 23 vacancies. To another question by the same member about any scheme in the pipeline to establish a resource centre in Mirpurkhas.

She was told there were no plans at present to establish a centre in Mirpurkhas. Ms Mumtaz informed the house in answer to another question by Ms Mughal that there was no civic centre for women in Mirpurkhas run by the ministry.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2018