LARKANA, Jan 16: Sindh Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Khan Mahar on Thursday said that the provincial government had decided to revive the Provincial Cooperative Bank to facilitate the farmers with better credit opportunities.

The chief minister was speaking at a public meeting in Badah, some 50 kilometres away from here.

Urging the farmers to maximize the benefits arising from this opportunity, he said that they (the farmers) should also remember to repay the loans.

Responding to the demand for not entrusting the disbursement of development funds to the district government, he directed the secretary of local bodies to look into the demand.

He also stressed the need for improved relations between the elected legislators and the representatives of the local bodies.

Mahar said that despite financial constraints, the government was determined to resolve basic problems of the people.

Regretting the availability of limited resources for tackling tremendous problems, he said that Rs100 million had been sanctioned for the province, out of which every district would get Rs10 million for development purposes.

He said that he only wished to serve Sindh, adding that he would abandon politics if anyone could prove anything against his family.

Appealing the people to educate their children, he urged them to work hard for the betterment of the province.

Responding to the demands presented by Allah Bakhsh Unnar, the chief minister said that 100-kilometre-long roads would be constructed in Larkana district.

The chief minister promised to set up a girls’ college in Badah town and two digital exchanges in Dokri taluka.

He also sanctioned two water supply schemes for Badah town.

The ban on recruitment would be lifted soon, the chief minister announced.

Sindh ministers for revenue and social welfare, Altaf Hussain Unnar, and Dr Saeeda Malik, respectively, also spoke on the occasion.

Later, talking to newsmen at the reception held by the Sindh minister for revenue, Altaf Hussain Unnar, the chief minister said that the issues of Kalabagh dam and National Finance Commission (NFC) Award would be resolved through talks with other provinces.

Referring to the leaders of the PPP and PML(N), Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, respectively, he said that they may return whenever they want to but they would have to face legal action once they arrive in the country.

He said that he would take the members of the opposition in the provincial assembly into confidence in running the affairs of the province.

Dismissing the allegations of rigging levelled by the PPP, saying that it had become a tradition to accuse the winners of elections of rigging.

He said that the Mahar-Jatoi Jirga would be held in Sukkur on Friday, adding that the law and order situation was comparatively well in the province.

In the meantime, speaking at the Shaikh Zayed Hospital for Women, the chief minister said that provision of better health facilities to the people of rural and urban areas of the province was among the top priorities of the Sindh government.

Inaugurating the operation theatres and labour room at the hospital, he said that the Parchee fee had been abolished in the hospitals of the province in the interest of the patients.

He said that each district hospital would be given two dialysis machines for the treatment of kidney patients.

He also promised provision of funds for modernizing the facilities at the Shaikh Zayed Hospital.

Later, the chief minister attended a reception held by MPA Dr Hamida Khuhro.

CENTENARY: The Jeay Sindh Mahaz (JSM) would hold a caucus to mark the Centenary of the birth of late G. M. Syed in Qasimabad on Jan 17, a member of the JSM’s press wing, Sachal Kalhoro, said during a press conference held here on Wednesday.

He said that the workers of the JSM, led by the party chairman, Abdul Khalique Junejo, would visit San and place floral wreaths on the grave of late G. M. Syed, adding that caravans from all over Sindh would assemble in Qasimabad, where prominent party leaders would address a public meeting.

Meanwhile, workers of the Jeay Sindh Quami Mahaz staged a rally here on Wednesday before establishing a camp adjacent to Jinnahbagh.