Sindh Minister for Energy Imtiaz Shaikh on Friday announced that the ration bags would be distributed by the provincial government among the daily wagers on Saturday evening.
He was presiding over a meeting of a committee, formed by the provincial government for distribution of ration bags among needy people, held at the Planning and Development office. He said the ration bags would include flour, rice, sugar, pulses, ghee, tea, and other essential items, according to a press release.
The minister said all the arrangements had been finalized by the Sindh government and the data compilation of the deserving needy people was in final stages. Imtiaz Shaikh said that for the purpose Rs 20 million had been allocated for each district of the province. He added that monthly Zakat amount has been raised from Rs 3000 to Rs 6000. The meeting was attended by Chairman P&D Waseem Ahmed, Commissioner Karachi Iftikhar Shalwani, Secretary Finance, Secretary School Education, Secretary College Education and Secretary Zakat and Ushr while all the Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners of different districts of the province also attended the meeting via video-link.
It is to note that the CM had ordered the release of Rs580 million for distributing ration among daily-wage workers. Shah issued the directives in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown, imposed to slow down its spread.
Presiding over a meeting on Thursday, he acknowledged that prisons in Sindh were “crowded” and therefore, keeping in view the present situation, prisoners who could be released needed to be identified and let out of jails, in accordance with the law. He said that as per the list of prisoners he had, there were 16,000 inmates in the province’s jails.
