KARACHI: Almost a month-long sit-in being held by the Jamaat-i-Islami outside the Sindh Assembly building in protest against the Sindh Local Government Amendment Act 2022 bore fruit late on Thursday night when the Pakistan Peoples Party government in the province agreed to further amend the law that would give back control of major administrative affairs, including health, education, water supply and sewerage system, to the local administration.

The breakthrough came when Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah visited the sit-in venue and held talks with the JI leaders that led to a final agreement between the two sides. JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman announced calling off the sit-in.

“Those health and education sectors which were withdrawn from the control of local government are returned back,” Shah said.

“Karachi mayor would be chairman of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board. The Provincial Finance Commission would be set up within a month of the local government elections. Similarly, the city administration would have its due share in motor vehicle tax,” he said.

The minister said the Solid Waste Management Board, which was so far operating under the provincial government, would also be handed over to the local administration. All educational institutions, which were under the Karachi local administration before the amendments were introduced in the law, would also be returned to the elected city government.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2022