LARKANA, July 19: The district council on Thursday passed a resolution with majority vote, which said Larkana should be spelt and pronounced in future as ‘Larkano’ not Larkana.

Badar Abbasi, a member of Khushhal Pakistan Panel (KPP), who put forward the resolution, argued that when Larkana was carved out of Shikarpur district in 1901 it was written in old books and referred to as ‘Larkano’ not Larkana.

Therefore, the district government should declare it officially that it should be spelt as ‘Larkano’ with correct pronunciation, he said. The council later passed the resolution with majority vote.

Abdul Hameed Jessar called for a probe into the shadowy allotment of plots in ‘Sasti-Basti’. Mashooque Jatoi, Badar Abbasi, Barkat Shaikh, Apa Khursheed Talat Khatyan and Akhtar Abbasi supported his demand and said that illegal allotments in ‘Sasti-Basti’ pointed towards mushroom growth of housing colonies around the city without basic facilities.

The members criticised the taluka nazim for being reluctant to repatriate staff to the Larkana Development Authority (LDA), which had the authority issue no-objection certificates (NoC's) to the builders for establishing new housing colonies.

At the moment the taluka nazim was himself exercising the authority’s powers. The notification for the restoration of LDA had not yet been issued though the chief minister had twice announced restoration of LDA, said Badar Abbasi.

The convener formed a committee tasked with beginning probe into the allotments in Sasti-Basti and said that the director of katchi abadi would be called to brief the council over the allotments.Ali Gohar Bhatti tabled a resolution calling for writing to Sindh government urging it to regularise 863 ad hoc lecturers and release their salaries held up for six months.

A summery on their regularisation had been lying at the chief minister’s table since six months, he said.

When other provinces could regularise their ad hoc employees within a month's time what had taken the Sindh government so long, he said.

The council supported the resolution with one voice and urged the Sindh government to regularise the ad hoc lecturers so that they should discontinue protests.

The session was adjourned till Friday.

PROTEST: Twenty ad hoc lecturers’ observed token hunger strike on Thursday outside the press club to press seeking regularisation of 863 ad hoc lecturers and release of withheld salaries.