KARACHI: The opposition in the Sindh Assembly on Thursday demanded that the provincial government inform the house about the proceedings of the recently-held meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) which, as certain unofficial reports claimed, approved the final results of the 2017 national census without a post-enumeration audit of five per cent census blocks.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Chawla said he could brief the house about the issue when it would meet on Friday (today).

The issue was raised by Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s Jawed Hanif who, on a point of order, referred to certain media reports which claimed that the final results of the census had been approved by the CCI in the meeting without a post-enumeration audit of five per cent census blocks.

PPP lawmaker voices her concern over dangers involved in kiting across city

“Such reports are extremely disturbing,” said Mr Hanif. “Particularly for us, the people of Sindh.”

He said no census carried out in the past was acceptable to the people of Sindh. “Every census was controversial and had been imposed on us; and the same situation is being witnessed this time round also,” said Mr Hanif.

The MQM-P lawmaker recalled an earlier development when it was accepted by the federal authorities that finalisation of the population count would be made after an audit of five per cent samples.

“This issue has been very sensitive for Sindh and its capital as census is the grandest tool to decide distribution of resources and share in the kitty among the provinces. The present population as being shown for Sindh is far from reality.”

He said the authorities concerned wanted to issue the final count on the pretext of certain deadlines that had expired and that the Sindh government should not accept it.

MQM-P’s parliamentary leader Kanwar Naveed said Asif Zardari, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules Sindh, had recently spoken in the National Assembly in which he had said the population of Sindh’s capital was 30 million, double of what had been shown in the recent census results.

Besides, he said, in the previous National Assembly PPP’s Khursheed Shah had tabled a resolution regarding an audit of samples of the 2017 census.

He said the issue involved greater consequences for Sindh as it would determine what “we’ll be getting from the federal kitty and resources in the future”.

Kanwar Naveed said reports suggesting the CCI had approved a summary for the final census figures warranted the Sindh government to inform the provincial legislature whether such accounts were correct; and, if so, the reasons behind it should be spelt out.

“The Sindh government owes an explanation to this house. We should be informed about what happened in the CCI’s meeting,” said the MQM-P lawmaker. Minister Chawla said he would brief the house on Friday on the issue.

Deputy Speaker Rehana Laghari, after getting consent from the opposition benches, asked the minister to furnish a statement a day later.

Kiting in city

PPP’s Shamim Mumtaz expressed her concern over the dangers involved in the current kiting season, which might kill or harm people.

She referred to a recent incident in Karachi in which a child died because of a lethal string, adding that such incidents were on the rise as the season for the sport had arrived in town.

She said hundreds of people, youth in particular, could be seen along Lyari Expressway engaged in kiting.

She said there was a need to keep a check on the sport and particularly on the deadly string.

“Our government should launch a drive to inform the people about the dangers of using dangerous string and take measures to discourage its production.”

Mr Chawla said the provincial government would ensure strict measures against the production of the deadly string.

Traffic in city

MQM-P’s Mohammad Hussain said traffic management in Karachi was in disarray, which was evident from the perpetual snarl-ups across the metropolis. He said convoys of senior government officials with heavy protocol had also negatively affected the smooth flow of traffic.

Mr Chawla admitted that efficiency of the traffic system in the city was on the decline; however, the provincial government was trying to streamline it.

He said Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had halved his protocol staff, which was now much smaller than other VVIPs’. Besides, he added, the provincial ministers and advisers too generally avoided to be in the company of excessive protocol.

“Rest assured, no inconvenience is being caused to the public in the name of protocol,” said the minister.

Calling-attention notices

Revenue Minister Makhdoom Mehboobuz Zaman responded to a calling-attention notice by Grand Democratic Alliance’s Abdul Razzaq, who asked why free distribution of wheat was being carried out according to the lists provided by the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and not through computerised national identity cards.

The minister said the government had planned to distribute 50 kilograms of wheat to the head of each family in the drought-hit Thar region.

For the purpose, said the revenue minister, Nadra helped the Sindh government in identifying heads of the family to whose names 50kg wheat bags would be assigned.

He said the government had assessed that handing free wheat to every CNIC holder would have created an imbalance, especially those households with more children and less elders would have got lesser wheat than the ones with more CNIC holders.

Mr Zaman said the provincial relief commissioner was in Thar to ensure that everyone got the bag weighing 50kg and not less as had recently been reported.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Seema Zia spoke on the dilapidated condition of Mauripur Road which, she added, was the jugular vein of the national economy.

Works and Services Minister Nasir Shah said his ministry did not have control on the road. He said the provincial government had made a plan to reconstruct it by correcting the sewerage lines and drains in the area that keep damaging it in the past.

Mr Shah said the road had been rebuilt in the past but got damaged because the sewerage lines and drains were not rectified.

The chair deferred discussion on identical adjournment motions on water issues in various cities and regions of Sindh for Friday (today).

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2018