KARACHI: The provincial cabinet met under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at CM House on Thursday and discussed and decided 26 agenda items, including Recruitment Rules for ranks in the provincial police to create police cadre in the provincial service, Search Committee Bill and various others.
The meeting was attended by all the provincial ministers, advisors, special assistants, acting chief secretary Qazi Shahid Parvez and other concerned officers.
Recruitment Rules for police: The home department giving a presentation to the cabinet said that it has drafted recruitment rules for the posts of senior rans (from Superintendent of police BS-18 to Additional IGP BS-21) in Sindh police.
The appointment against the posts of senior ranks below the rank of Inspector General of Police shall be made in accordance with the respective recruitment rules made under the Sindh Civil Servants Act, 1973.
The proposed recruitment Rules for different posts from grade BS-21 to BS-18 are as follows:
Adl IGP (BS-21): By Promotion from amongst the DIGs (BS-20) having minimum 22-year service in BS-17 and above including three years in BS-20, on seniority-cum-fitness basis.
DIG (BS-20): By promotion from amongst the Senior Superintendents of Police / AIGP (BS-19) having minimum 17-year service in BS-17 and above, including three years in BS-19, on seniority-cum-fitness basis.
SSP/AIG (BS-19): By promotion from amongst the Superintendents of Police (BS-18) having minimum 12-year service in grade BS-17 and above, including 3 years in BS-18, on seniority-cum-fitness basis.
SP/ADIGP (BS-18): By promotion from amongst the Deputy Superintendent of Police (BS-17) having at least five -year service as such on seniority-cum-fitness basis.
SP/ADIGP (legal-BS-19): By promotion from amongst the Prosecuting Deputy Superintendents of Police (BS-17) having at least five-year service as such on seniority-cum-fitness basis.
The cabinet was told that the Constitution and the PSP Rules 1985 did not bar the Provincial government from making the subject recruitment rules nor do they suggest any concurrence from the Federal government. The matter of policing or police service is not included in the federal legislative list.
The cabinet was told that the legislative competence of `police’ has been declared to be in `exclusive Provincial domain’ by the High Court of Sindh in CP No. D-7097/2016 and No.D-131/2017 on 17.09.2016 and the same attained finality at the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
According to proposal, after notifying the proposed rules, the eligible officers in the rank of SP(BS-18) may be promoted against the posts of SSP/AIGP (BS-19) in Sindh Police replacing the PSP officers in this rank /posts; then gradually when these Sindh Police Service officers become eligible for BS-20 (DIGP) the same may be promoted as per rules replacing the officers of PSP; and so on and so forth
The cabinet after thorough discussion decided to constitute a committee under Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh and it members include Industries Minister Ikramullah Dharejo, Advisor law Murtaza Wahab, Advocate General, Chief Secretary, ACS Home and any co-opted to member to examine the proposed rules and consider the constitutional provisions and present their report within a month.
Search Committee Act: The provincial cabinet discussed and approved Search Committee Act, 2021 for appointment of the Vice Chancellors and other officers of the universities in public sector universities in Sindh.
The committee would be constituted by Sindh chief minister comprising chairman Sindh Higher Education Commissioner, Secretary U and B, Secretary College Education, two co opted members from relevant category of university to be nominated by the government from a panel of five persons sent by chairman.
The functions of the Search Committee include to prescribe recruitment criteria for vice chancellor, scrutinize and shortlist the application in the light of eligibility criteria, to hold interviews of shortlisted candidates and to recommend a panel of three most suitable candidates to the CM for final selection.
The cabinet approved the bill and referred it to the assembly.
Hiring of 1500 interns: The cabinet was told that 318 higher secondary schools, boys and girls, were facing acute shortage of subject specialists for classes XI and XII. They said that their requisition has been sent to SPSC but it would take time and delay was causing academic loss.
The cabinet decided that the hiring would be school specific/need basis and selection would be purely on merit and on district basis.
A stipend/ internship allowance amounting to Rs.50,000/- per month shall be allowed; subject to satisfactory performance. The hiring shall be on purely intern basis, and neither be regularized nor be appointed on contractual/ad-hoc basis. The hiring period would be subject to the need – till the selection/joining of a regular subject specialist.
Out of 1500 internees, 240 would be physics, 240 chemistry, 120 mathematics, 120 botany, including zoology, 240 English, 60 Pakistan studies, 60 each of Islamiat, Sindhi and Urdu.
Incentives for EVs: The Excise and Taxation dept told the meeting that during next five years 100,000 Electric vehicles, 500,000 two to three wheelers, 1000 buses and 1000 trucks would start plying in the country for the reasons such as higher petroleum price, low maintenance cost and such other reasons.
Powers to remove encroachment: The cabinet authorized Senior member Board of Revenue to depute any officers to remove encroachment such as encroachment together with structure, if any, raised on the public property.
The sub-committee in its report recommended its decisions such as fixing Rs1000 Registration Fee for EVs non-commercial vehicles for two years.
Annual Motor Vehicle Tax may be reduced to Rs.500/- for Electric Vehicles only.
Luxury Tax on Electric Vehicles may be reduced to Rs.5000/- for 2000cc and above (or equivalent KW) vehicles only. Motor Vehicle Tax from Electric Motorcycles may be recovered @ Rs.500/- once for all (LifeTime) and imposition of Rs1000/ penalty for late registration.
Adopt Spl Education school program: The Dept of Empowerment of Persons with disabilities presented a policy for `Adopt a Special Education School Programme in the cabinet saying that it would enable them to benefit from the expertise of the private sector, and allow them to focus instead on policy, planning and regulation by delegating day-to-day operations.
The objective of the policy includes to develop the existing infrastructure of Government Special Education and Rehabilitation Centers, to build the capacity of human resources of the Centers/Institutes, to meet with international commitments, to implement local laws and to promote Education for All.
As per policy the Regional Director concerned would carry out the initial screening and feasibility studies for identifying such projects keeping in view the criteria such as the center’s physical infrastructure needs to be repaired or rebuilt. The center being in a rural area/non-functional and has acute shortage of staff, including skilled and unskilled or has non-professional staff, low enrollment and low performing.
The period of adoption may range between three to five years. The cabinet approved the policy with the instructions to bring professional and experienced parties to adopt the schools. The cabinet on the request of the Local Government Department included adjoining areas into existing municipal committees of Moro and Naushero Feroze.