HYDERABAD, Dec 28: The Jamshoro district council has showed its exasperation at the performance of education, health and revenue departments and urged them to improve themselves.

Council member Roshan Buriro told the council meeting chaired by district naib nazim and convenor Abdul Hameed Buledi on Wednesday that a total of 350 schools still remained closed forcing people to send their children to private schools.

He demanded that all the closed schools should be reopened and the 2007 should be declared as the year of education. The council agreed with Mr Buriro’s idea and announced that the next year would be observed as the year of education.

Abdul Rehman Rind, Lala Ayaz Pathan, Arbab Allah Bachayo Memon, Pir Bux Chhachhar and Gul Mohammad Shoro also voiced their protest over the schools’ closure and shortage of teachers and furniture in the schools.

They complained of discrimination in the distribution of development schemes and complained that the elected nazims of union councils had nothing to do except issuing certificates.

They said that the union councils had till not received the stipulated development funds of Rs1 million. They were answerable to people but they had no answer which could satisfy them, they said.

The convenor formed a committee comprising Roshan Buriro, Pir Bux Chhachhar, Gul Mohammad Shoro, Imam Bux Chohan, Jalal Rehman Rind and Dr Mohammad Ali Rajput to coordinate with the district government departments to ensure judicious distribution of funds.

Mr Pathan said that the industrial units located in the district were not giving jobs to the local youths and the local pharmaceutical units had not employed even one per cent of workers from locals.

Mohammad Ali Samoon said that all the closed dispensaries and basic health units should be made functional by appointing concerned staff on contract basis.

Pir Bux Chhachhar said that the people whose lands had been acquired for RBOD project, which had so far proved highly destructive, had not yet received any compensation.

EDO Education Abdul Majeed Hur informed the meeting that 191 closed schools in the four talukas of the district had been reopened and 200 teaches had been appointed on contract basis who would be paid from the SMCs funds.