Karachi: Cabinet decides to set up complaint cell at CM House

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Cabinet decides to set up complaint cell at CM House



Wednesday, October 08, 2008
By our correspondent

Karachi

The Sindh Cabinet has decided to request the Punjab government to relax restrictions on the borders and lift the ban on wheat and flour movement into Sindh due to the shortage and high pricing of the essential commodity in the province.

Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri said that the decision was taken at the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah. Participants at the meeting took serious notice of the wheat shortage and the price hike of the essential commodities in Sindh.

She said that the government had taken various steps to control the flour shortage as well as prices and added that Sindh had imposed a ban on borders to curb the smuggling of wheat flour to other provinces. But since the province was facing a shortage of wheat flour, it has been decided to request Punjab to lift the ban on wheat and flour movement.

The information minister said that the cabinet has also decided to set up a Complaint Cell at the Chief Minister House where all the ministers would sit receive complaints about the price hike and the law and order situation in the province. The cabinet decided that ministers should visit different districts and hold meetings with district price committee members, while the law minster was advised to contact the judiciary for transferring some magisterial powers to the Deputy District Officer Revenue in order to take action against profiteers and hoarders, Marri said.

She mentioned that the setting up of Complaint Cell at CM House during the second government of late Benazir Bhutto to control law and order situation was a successful experiment. The old setup would be revived and it would be mandatory for every minister to sit in the cell and take immediate action to redress complaints. Every minister would submit his or her report to the chief minister every month about his performance at the cell. She hoped that this setup would prove helpful for the people.

The minister further said that the government had fixed Rs22 per kg as the ex-mill price of Atta and directed each mill owner to set up five shops around his mill to provide Atta at the rate of Rs24 per kg to people. The government had advised mill owners that the Atta rate should be Rs24 per kg as the government was providing them wheat at subsidized rates, she said.

The minister, however, admitted that the government had the knowledge that Atta was being sold at Rs32 per kg in different areas and added that steps taken by the government would help control the prices. She said that the district price control committees have been directed to hold mandatory meetings twice a month or else the committee members would be removed.

Marri said that the law and order situation could not be discussed in detail as the home minister was not present at the meeting. She added, however, that the government would chalk out its strategy to deal with the law and order situation and suicide attacks after the in-camera briefing of the parliament.

The information minister said that the provincial assembly members hoped that they would also be briefed in-camera about the situation of the country.

Marri said that the cabinet did not approve the plan of the previous regime to construct a new Sindh Secretariat in place of the Government Barracks, adding that it was decided to chalk out a new plan for this project and the same would be submitted at the next cabinet meeting after removing objections of the cabinet ministers. She said billions of rupees would be spent on the construction of the eight-storied secretariat, and the decision to build this was taken in the interest of the people.

Marri rejected the allegation that the Food Department was providing extra quota to some favourite flourmills on commission and said that there was no plan to remove any minister.

thenews.com.pk