KARACHI, Aug 4: The possibility of establishing an orphanage in Karachi in cooperation with the provincial government was considered at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Sindh chief minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim.

Addressing the meeting, the chief minister said that orphans are part of society whose nourishment, education and upbringing is our collective responsibility.

He said recently he visited "Sirat-ul-Jannah", an institution for orphans at Marri Road in Islamabad where measures are taken for sheltering and educating boys and girls.

He said the administration and management of this institution wants to establish a similar organization in Karachi for which the Sindh government would extend all help and also induce philanthropists.

The meeting decided that the Sindh government will provide a building for this organization temporarily in which at least 100 boys and girls will be housed and later more children will be admitted.

Dr Arbab said that well-to-do people will also be approached for financial and material help of this organization. The administrator of Sirat-ul-Jannah, Mohammed Ahmed Queshi, Ghufran Qureshi, provincial culture minister Shabbir Qaimkhani, Zakat and Ushr minister Manzoor Hussain Panhwar, women development minister Dr Saeeda Malik, minister for mineral development Irfanullah Marwat, secretary of culture Ghulam Abid Shaikh and other officials also attended the meeting.

A follow-up meeting was also held on Wednesday which was attended by provincial ministers Irfanullah Marwat, Pir Sadruddin Shah Rashdi, Dr Sohrab Sarki, advisor on information Salahuddin Hyder, KCCI's Zubair Motiwala and Majyd Aziz Balgamwala.

The meeting considered the availability of building for the proposed orphanage and an appeal was made to philanthropists to contribute maximum for this organization. -APP