Domicile controversy

Editorial Published June 12, 2020

FOR the past several days, protests have been held in different cities of Sindh over the issuance of purportedly fake domiciles and permanent residence certificates in the province. Political parties, nationalist groups and civil society activists claim the practice of issuing the aforesaid documents to non-residents of districts as well as the province is rife thanks to corrupt elements in the bureaucracy. Spurred into action, the Sindh chief minister had launched an inquiry into the matter; findings of the probe thus far, as announced by the provincial information minister, revealed that over 150 bogus domiciles and PRCs had been detected in four districts. He pledged action against the officials responsible, while announcing that an inquiry committee consisting of himself and the chief minister’s legal adviser was looking into the matter. However, the opposition MQM-P had earlier rejected the Sindh government committee, saying the move constituted contempt of court as the party had already approached the Sindh High Court regarding the matter of domiciles. The MQM’s plea is that non-residents of Karachi are given ‘bogus’ domiciles.

This is a very sensitive issue as government jobs, places in educational institutions and other official benefits are at stake. While residents of rural Sindh claim they cannot find work in their own districts and that those from other districts and provinces snap up government jobs, people of urban Sindh say they are deprived of employment and education by those from outside the cities. Perhaps the best way to address this is to reconstitute the committee probing the matter. Along with government officials, representation of non-partisan individuals — including respected names from civil society from both rural and urban Sindh — need to be on the committee to ensure that its work is transparent. With limited government jobs and places in public educational institutions, and a large, growing population, the Sindh administration will have to ensure that the process of granting domiciles/PRCs does not involve corruption, and only those eligible to obtain the documents under the law receive them.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2020

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dAANISH

Jun 12, 2020 09:19am

Quota system must end, it has already divided Sindh in 2 provinces: Urban and rural . Lets make it permanent solution, only then problems will be solved insshallah

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SHAHID SATTAR

Jun 12, 2020 10:02am

The current number of fraud domiciles issued by the concerned authorities, deliberately and being aware of the fraud being committed, declaring these persons to be residents of the cities of Karachi, Hyderabad and other cities, thereby qualifying for the urban quota for employment, would at least run into tens of thousands. The minister's announcement about detecting only 154 cases is only a ploy to misguide the public and any authorities which might be looking into the matter to undo the injustices done to a large number of people simply owing to their origins.

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Tzaman

Jun 12, 2020 12:50pm

MQM killed mohajirs and urban Sindh's future. It made lost generations since late 1980s.

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Yar Hingorjo

Jun 12, 2020 05:00pm

Sindh rejects bogus domiciles.

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Yar Hingorjo

Jun 12, 2020 05:01pm

We rejects these kinds of bogus domiciles.

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Mirza Tahir

Jun 13, 2020 12:55pm

While the message about distancing and SOPs is the correct one, the government cannot simply leave it to citizens to fend for themselves and then hold them responsible if deaths continue to escalate. The government is ultimately responsible for how badly the coronavirus hits the population and, therefore, must not stop at merely requesting that people take precautions. A mass awareness campaign with effective messaging is the need of the hour, as it is the only way the state can limit the death and doom spelt by the virus in the absence of a lockdown. Unfortunately, while the government’s anti-lockdown policy has been strongly and repeatedly communicated, its anti-coronavirus messaging is weak. If, as the prime minister says, there are so many people who think the virus is a hoax or part of some conspiracy, something is amiss in the government’s existing communications strategy and must be addressed immediately — not when cases rise even further.

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CitizenK

Jun 13, 2020 07:08pm

@Yar Hingorjo, Make DNA certificate mandatory. DNA testing results will decide those individuals place of origins.

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