Sindh Govt left poor at mercy of mafias, profiteers: Farrukh Habib

Sindh Govt left poor at mercy of mafias, profiteers: Farrukh Habib

KARACHI, Nov 05 (APP): State Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Farrukh Habib Friday said that the Sindh government has left the poor people, especially Karachi, at the mercy of mafias and profiteers whereas other provinces were giving subsidies on the food commodities like wheat and sugar to provide relief to the people.

He was addressing a press conference along with the Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and Opposition Leader in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Shaikh at the Sindh Governor’s House here.

Habib said that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has been in power in Sindh for the last 13 years, but they are not ready to take responsibility.

Sharing the data of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, he said that the 20 kilograms bag of wheat flour is being sold in Karachi – Sindh at Rs 1470 while the flour bag weighing the same commodity is being sold in Lahore at Rs 1100. Punjab Government ensured timely releases of the wheat to the flour mills at the subsidize rates that pushed the price down, he said.

He said that the Federal Government reminded the Sindh government many times that around 12 lakh tones of wheat stock should be released from the stores, but the decision in this regard was announced in Sindh on October 15 while Punjab had started its releases around a one-and-a-half month ago.

The Advice of the federal government was not accepted in Sindh, which, he termed as a reason behind the difference in wheat flour prices in Sindh and Punjab, he added.

The same is the case with the sugar, said Farrukh Habib said that which is being provided in Punjab at Rs 90 per kilogram because of massive spillover.

As per data available with him, he said, the sugar is being sold in Karachi at around Rs 125 per kg and raised the question that where is the Sindh Government’s intervention. Even the operational sugar mills have been shut down in Sindh, he added.

The State Minister said that one can find negligence of Sindh Government everywhere and the life of poor people in Sindh is made miserable.

He said that the Sindh government does want to provide relief to the poor people as it has also refused to join the largest welfare package of the history of Pakistan that is the Rs120 billion Ehsaas Ration Support Program that will directly support around 20 million families.

Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Islamabad Capital Territory have already become part of the program, he added.

The State Minister for Information and Broadcasting said that Imran Khan is the prime minister of whole Pakistan and the Federal Government will provide its 35 percent share of the Ehsaas Ration Support Program to the people of Sindh.

He said the federal government had provided Rs 1900 billion from the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award to the Sindh government in the last three years.

He said that Sehat Insaaf Card is the initiative of the provincial governments and the people of KPK and Punjab will be facilitated through this health card but again the Sindh Government does not want to extend the facility to the people of the province.

He told a questioner that the federal government is facilitating the people through the largest social safety program of the history of Pakistan, but on the other hand, the whole world is affected due to record inflation.

Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail said that the work is underway on Greenline project and the date of its inauguration will be announced in the next 15 to 20 days.

APP Services