QUETTA: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has held the federal government responsible for the recent wheat crisis in the country, saying that wrong agriculture policies of the federal government caused the crisis.

He was addressing a press conference at Jattak House during his daylong visit to Quetta on Friday. The president of the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Balochistan chapter, Ali Madad Jattak, and general secretary Syed Iqbal Shah were present.

Rejecting the allegation that the Sindh government was responsible for wheat crisis, the chief minister questioned if it was true why the prices of wheat and flour had gone up in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. If the Sindh government was so powerful that it could cause crises in other provinces, the federal government should allow Sindh to rule also in these provinces, he said sarcastically.

Answering a question about the Sindh-Centre controversy over the inspector general of police in the province, he claimed that the Sindh IGP remained failed to control criminal activities in the province.

“Over the last one and half years, five IGPs have been transferred in Punjab because provincial governments and chief ministers have the right to transfer government officers in order to smoothly run provincial affairs,” he said.

The Sindh CM said he had talked to Prime Minister Imran Khan about the transfer the Sindh IGP and he had assured him that the issue would be resolved. He said that government officers could not be appointed on the wish of the opposition. He said that after the 18th Amendment it was the right of provinces to take a decision about appointment and transfer of IGPs and other administrative officers.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2020