KARACHI-Amidst lack of interest from both sides of the aisle, the Sindh Assembly on Thursday passed yet another amendment to the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013 but this time for empowering the local bodies unlike the previous times when the powers were curtailed. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla presented The Sindh Local Government (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023 to the house which was passed unanimously without any statement being given by the treasury. As per the bill, Mayor or chairmen of different city corporations across the province would be the chairman of development authorities lying in their respective jurisdictions.
The amended bill also gave back the administrative control of healthcare and few educational facilities to the KMC. The control was taken away by the provincial government through an amendment in 2021.
The administrative control of Karachi Medical and Dental College, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Sobhraj Maternity Home, Sarfaraz Shaheed Hospital, Spencer’s Eye Hospital, Leprosy Hospital and other institutions as had been given back to the KMC. The Mayor Karachi will be the chairman of Karachi Development Authority, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, Sindh Solid Waste Management Board as well as other development authorities. The bill empowered the Mayor Karachi to propose three names for the slot of chief executive of the water board as well Sindh Solid Waste Management Board.
Similarly, the mayor or chairmen of other corporations would be chairing the development authorities in their respective jurisdictions and would propose the names for cheif executive of the authorities.
Meanwhile, The Sindh Apprenticeship Bill, 2023 was also passed by the Assembly. Lawmakers’ lack of interest irks Speaker Meanwhile disinterest of the members belonging to both sides of the continued to irk Speaker Agha Siraj as none of the members moved written questions and calling attention notices were present.
Most of the he written questions related to Environment, Climate Change and Coastal Development were asked by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf members who had screened themselves after May 09 and not attending the Assembly sessions. Three call attention notices tabled by Abdul Razzaque and Arif Mustafa Jatoi of Grand Democratic Alliance and PTI’s dissident Malik Shahzad Awan could not be answered too. Later, the house was adjourned to Friday (today).