The Federal Government is working on a sustainable development agenda for Sindh. The strategy promotes the sustainable use of resources to achieve the objectives of poverty alleviation and social development through the participation of the people of Sindh.
President of Pakistan DrArifAlviwas informed about this during a meeting held at Governor’s House on Saturday.
Governor Sindh Imran Ismail was also present at the meeting. Federal Minister for Planning & Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar briefed about the ongoing development schemes and future projects for province of Sindh.
He said that the purpose of the strategic planning and actions was to ensure efforts to address the ecological, economic and social issues of the province.
The Minister also gave a detailed briefing about COVID-19 situation with special reference to fourth wave due to Indian variant of corona virus.
He informed that there were clear signs of a fourth wave of Covid-19 starting in the country, primarily due to poor compliance to SOPs and arrival of the Delta variant.
He said that the government would make all efforts to ensure compliance of rules with focus on a two-pronged strategy: Strict enforcement of guidelines particularly in big cities and tourist places; and by appealing the people to wear masks, avoid crowds, and get vaccinated.
The President appreciated the efforts of federal government for the development schemes for Karachi and other districts of province of Sindh.
However, he expressed his grave concern over the non-compliance of SOP to check spread of corona disease, by people at large.
“I have myself witnessed during Eid prayers at Faisal Masjid that people were not following the NCOC’s recommendations and the related SOP was being ignored.
Nevertheless, in the wake of fourth wave of COVID-19, the observance of SOPs has become all the more important to minimise its impact through implementation of stringent measures”, he added.
DrArifAlvi stressed that the people should get themselves vaccinated as early as possible. He also advised the people to follow instructions of NCOC in letter and spirit to help check spread of the disease.
He also directed Governor Sindh to convene a meeting with Ulema and religious scholars before month of Muharram for ensuring SOP during congregations and other religious events.
“We cannot ask people to abandon their faith during these testing times, but we must play our role to ensure the community can learn how to protect people from Covid-19 during the annual majalis”, he added.
The meeting was also attended by MNAJay Parkash; MPAs FirdousShamim Naqvi, Saeed Afridi, KhurramSherzaman, Bilal Ghaffar; and Leader of the opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Shaikh.
