HYDERABAD: Sindh government intends to seek details of recruitment from the federal government about those given jobs by the latter on the basis of candidates’ Sindh domicile over the last two decades.

The Sindh government has also decided to form divisional-level committees, headed by commissioners, to scrutinise cases of domiciles, to detect fake ones, issued over the past decade.

A set of decisions has been taken by Sindh government after Senior Member Board of Revenue Qazi Shahid Pervez, at the head of a committee, submitted his findings to it a few days back.

The decisions on the committee’s report were taken by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah whose government has already announced that action will be taken against those administration officials found responsible for the issuance of fake domiciles and permanent residence certificates (PRCs).

Sindh chief secretary has reportedly been asked to write to the federal government seeking details of jobs and particulars of candidates who had been recruited in federal departments and corporations on Sindh quota over the last 20 years.

The CS is the competent authority to approach federal government. The Sindh government has taken the decisions mainly and apparently on the basis of recommendations of the Qazi-led committee. BoR officer Nazeer Qureshi is one of the members of the committee formed by the Sindh government in the backdrop of an outcry over issuance of fake domiciles to non-natives of the provinces.

Details of admissions given in the public sector colleges and universities over the last five years in Sindh would also be collected and compiled.

A committee headed by Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah with CM’s Adviser on Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab, the additional chief chief secretary (home), secretaries of law and services & general administration (S&GA) being its members is also being formed to examine rules of domicile PRC and submit its recommendations whether these rules need to be changed.

It would examine the laws in detail with special focus on PRCs, an important document.

Domiciles in Sindh are issued under the Citizenship Act, 1950 while PRCs are issued under the Sindh Permanent Residents Certificate Rules, 1971. Both these legislations would be examined by the committee led by Syed Nasir Shah. The 1950 Act is a federal legislation and could be amended only by the parliament while the 1971 Rules are provisional framework and the Sindh government is competent enough to amend and reform them.

The inquiry committee has already scrutinised suspicious domiciles and PRCs issued over the last two years and four months in four districts — Kandhkot-Kashmore, Ghotki, Jamshoro and Larkana — while the divisional-level committees will scrutinise such cases across Sindh pertaining to the last 10 years.

A procedure has been defined under which home department will hear aggrieved individuals whose domicile and PRCs are found suspicious. The Qazi-led committee (not competent to cancel any suspicious domicile or PRC) will submit its complaints through a member of the committees before home department, which will hear aggrieved individuals and pass its orders, according to a source.

“In these cases government itself is aggrieved in all those cases where domiciles and PRCs are issued by exploiting procedure. Government’s appeal will be heard by home department and it will be decided accordingly by competent forum,” said the source.

The divisional-level committees would not cancel these documents on their own as was not done by the inquiry committee. The divisional-level committees would be headed by commissioner, additional commissioner-I whereas a nominee of Sindh CS will be a member of each committee.

The committee members would be competent to pay field visit. These divisional committees would go through details of recruitment in federal or provincial government departments as well as admissions allowed in public sector universities and colleges for a decision.

These divisional committees would take action, after completion of due process, against those revenue/administration officials who will be found responsible for issuing fake domiciles and PRCs in the province. They will be given opportunity of hearing. The Qazi-led committee has found many suspicious cases in various districts after its field visits. It also met notables as ell as revenue and administration officials during the verification process.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2020