MIRPURKHAS: Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar said on Thursday he had found gross irregularities in the departments of health, education and irrigation as the officers concerned had not played their role in provision of facilities to masses.

The chief minister said at a press conference after chairing a meeting of government officers at Darbar Hall that he had directed functionaries to take drastic measures to improve service delivery of the departments.

He said that he had visited the entire Mirpurkhas division and found the departments of health and education in a shambles.

He listened to growers’ complaints in the meeting and directed officers concerned to take strict action against delinquent fertiliser dealers and ensure provision of fertiliser at government fixed rate. He had also directed the authorities to take action against Mirpurkhas Municipal Corporation officials, he said.

Baqar expressed anger over the authorities’ failure to complete the building of district headquarters hospital and directed the officers to start work on repairs of the civil hospital building without delay as the old edifice was crumbling.

Baqar visits mining firms in Thar

The Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company has deposited Rs12 billion royalty into Sindh government’s accounts and paid Rs8 billion to the company’s shareholders, major among them the provincial government and the families displaced by coal exploration and mining activity who are paid Rs100,000 annually.

It transpired during a meeting chaired by Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar at the SECMC office in Islamkot on Thursday.

The meeting was attended by provincial secretaries for energy, health and irrigation Rehan Baloch, Dr Mansoor Rizvi and Niaz Abbasi, respectively and CEO of SECMC Yousif Siddiue.

The CM said that he had witnessed operation of two power plants, 1320 MW Shanghai Power Plant at Thar Coal Block-I and 1320 MW Sindh Engro Coal Power Plant at Thar Coal Block-II, adding more than 2640 MW to the national grid.

The coal firm’s CEO Mr Siddiue informed the chief minister that Thar Coal Block-II had reserves of 175 billion tonnes of coal. The company was exploiting 7.6 million tonnes of coal every year to produce clean and cheap electricity, he said.

He said the Thar Coal Block-II was producing 1320 MW. 70 per cent of total employees of the plant and the mine were locals and the Thar Foundation was running 23 schools where 5,000 students were receiving education, of them 33 per cent were girls, he said.

He said the foundation was running five health centres, mobile clinics and 17 RO plants in the Gorano area.

He said the SECMC in which the Sindh govt owned majority shares had deposited Rs12 billion in royalty to the government’s accounts and paid Rs8 billion to the shareholders – the Sindh government and the displaced persons.

The chief minister visited the Thar Block-II after the meeting and met women dumper drivers. “You have broken the myth and proved general perception about women wrong,” he said.

He went to visit a school run by Thar Foundation and then proceeded to the New Seri Dars Model village established for the displaced people of Thar Coal Block-II.

The chief minister the paid a visit to Shanghai Power Plant where the plant’s chairman Meng Donghai informed him that Shanghai Electric was a Chinese state-owned company, which had invested $3 billion to develop a coal mine in Thar Block-I and establish a 1320 MW power plant. They were providing clean, sustainable, and affordable energy to four million households at the lowest tariff, he said.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2023