New CM will Extend Rangers Powers

Minister of the Interior Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan on Saturday stated that the matter of the extension in the authority of the Rangers was always made controversial. He said that no doubts should be placed upon the intentions of the federal government.

While addressing the media, Nisar said that the Rangers’ authority shall be extended within a day or two. He added that he was optimistic that the newly elected Sindh Chief Minsiter (CM) Murad Ali Shah shall extend the powers of Rangers.
He added that the Rangers have the backing and the support of the federal government. He stated that the purpose of appointing Rangers was to maintain peace, adding that it was not possible that their powers do not get extended now.
Interior minister said that Rangers set new examples of service by giving sacrifices after putting immense effort to maintain the situation of law and order. Nisar said that the operation in Karachi was initiated with consultation of the provincial government.
Interior minister said that the federal government can play a clear role when it comes to the internal security of any province. He stated that the situation of Karachi has improved because of the role played by the Rangers and expressed his hope that the hindrances placed in the extension of Rangers’ authority shall soon be removed.
“Will comment on the performance of Sindh’ new captain when he comes out to bat,” remarked Nisar and further stated that he was hopeful that Murad Ali Shah will put up a good performance.

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Murad Ali Shah elected new Chief Minister of Sindh

Pakistan People's Party (PPP) nominee Syed Murad Ali Shah was voted in as the new chief minister of Sindh on Friday in an easy election boycotted by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani announced that the PPP nominee received 88 votes while PTI nominee Khurram Sher Zaman received 3 votes from the House.
Shah, who until the resignation of Qaim Ali Shah as chief minster on Wednesday was working as a senior minister for finance, had only one rival candidate from the opposition benches — MPA Khurram Sher Zaman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
The PPP, which has taken a lot of flak for its poor show of governance in the province, has replaced octogenarian Qaim Ali Shah with a relatively young leader as part of a campaign to ready itself for the 2018 general elections.
Friday's contest was a one-sided affair given the statistics of lawmakers in the house being highly in favour of the PPP. The provincial assembly session was summoned by the governor at 3pm to elect the new chief minister.
The legislature comprised 168 members, but there were 165 MPAs as three seats are vacant. The PPP had 91 members in the Sindh Assembly, a number big enough to give Murad Ali Shah a comfortable majority to win and form a cabinet of choice.
PTI candidate Khurram Sher Zaman had no chance to sail through the election with his party having only four lawmakers in the house. And of these four, only cast their votes because MPA Syed Hafeezuddin had announced his quitting the party and resigning as MPA to join Mustafa Kamal-led Pak Sarzameen Party.
Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani chaired the session of the Sindh Assembly.
The house elected the new leader of the house through the open system of polling instead of using the secret ballot process as the house members voted by taking part in the process of division of the house for conducting the poll.
Son of former Sindh Chief Minister Abdullah Shah, Murad Ali Shah now becomes the 27th Sindh CM, the first time that the son of a former Sindh Chief minister is elected as the chief of the provincial government.

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Future of Pir Mazhar? Special Secretary refuses giving 'clean chit'

Education Department on Tuesday submitted enquiry report in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) regarding fake recruitments while Special Secretary Education Zakir Ali Shah rejected giving ‘green signal’ to Former Minister Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq, reported Dunya News.

The report which comprised of 1000 papers was subjected to give clean chit to Former Education Minister Pir Mazhar but Zakir Shah refused the very ‘idea’ proposed by the enquiry team and stated that every person will be held accountable who intentionally tried to cause damage to the institution.

He also said that information about officers from different districts was provided to NAB after which an enquiry had been called. Zakir confessed that during previous 10 years the department faced much damage financially and the department as a whole. This was the reason Sindh was lagged behind from other provinces in terms of education.

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Siyal returns protocol after Qaim Ali Shah resigns

The former Home Minister of Sindh also disclosed that he had returned his protocol to the government after Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah resigned on Wednesday. He further stated that he had not been informed regarding any new ministry that would be offered to him but said that whatever the party decides, he would abide by it.

Talking about the Amjad Sabri killing case proceedings, Siyal said that a few arrests had been made in connection with the murder and a few evidence had also been collected.

The names and ministries of the new Sindh cabinet have yet to be announced. The election for the position of Chief Minister of Sindh will be held on Friday after which the new CM will be sworn in. Murad Ali Shah is expected to win the elections quite comfortably since he is the PPP's nominated Chief Minister. 

MQM have decided not to take part in the electoral process and will abstain from voting altogether while the PTI have fielded Khurram Sher Zaman as their candidate to contest the CM's position. 

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Who is Murad Ali Shah?

Syed Murad Ali Shah, the successor to Qaim Ali Shah, belongs to a family of politicians. He is serving as the Sindh finance minister.
His father Syed Abdullah Shah also had the additional portfolio of finance when he served as chief minister of Sindh during Benazir Bhutto’s second government.

Murad, 54, is a graduate of the Stanford University from where he received MSc degrees in economic systems and civil structure engineering. In 1986, he gained a BE Civil Engineering degree from the NED University.

He hails from Jamshoro. His family belongs to Lakyari Syed, the descendent of Shah Sadaruddin Lakyari (Lakhi Shah Sadar) near Sehwan Sharif. From 1986 till 1990 he served as an engineer at Wapda, Port Qasim Authority and the Hyderabad Development Authority before joining the Citi Bank.

Shah was elected to the Sindh Assembly in the 2002 elections. He was again elected to the provincial assembly in the 2008 election, and assigned the portfolio of finance in the cabinet of Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah.

He was barred from contesting the 2013 elections because of his Canadian citizenship. However, he gave up his second nationality to run in the election. He was elected to the Sindh Assembly for a third consecutive time. He was subsequently assigned the finance ministry in the provincial cabinet.

There is a perception that Shah looks more a bureaucrat than a politician and is not social. However, people in his constituency think otherwise. “Like his father he knows most of the voters in his constituency,” social activist Mustafa Meerani, who lives in Shah’s constituency, said, adding Shah has established schools, dispensaries, constructed roads and provided jobs to poor people on merit.


Being a relative of Pir Pagara, Shah has always gained moral support from PML-F circles. This can be judged from the fact that during the 2002 elections when the PPP started lobbying to form government in Sindh and tried to convince the late Pir Pagara (Shah Mardan Shah) to support it, he responded to them saying, “I will only support you if you give the chief minister’s slot to my Lakiyari Lal (Murad Ali Shah).”

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Sindh governor accepts CM Qaim Ali Shah’s resignation

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah tendered on Wednesday his resignation to governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan, paving the way for Murad Ali Shah to take control of the provincial government. Dr Ebad has accepted the resignation.

CM-nominee Murad, Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani and Senior Minister for Education Nisar Khuhro accompanied Qaim.
As the CM has resigned, the Sindh Cabinet has also been dissolved.


“Dr Ishratul Ebad will summon a session of Sindh Assembly on Friday where election of new chief minister will take place,” Sindh information adviser Maula Bux Chandio told the media.

Chandio said the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had a simple majority in the house but will seek support of opposition parties.
Durrani said the process of nomination forms for the chief minister will begin on Thursday, whereas the new CM will take the vote of confidence on Friday.

The PPP had decided on Sunday to make changes in Sindh cabinet and bring in a new chief minister for the province, replacing Qaim.

Party’s top leadership flew to the UAE on Saturday evening to hold discussions with Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on extension in Rangers’ special powers, among other issues.

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Sindh cabinet dissolved after Qaim Ali Shah's resignation

Sindh cabinet has been dissolved after Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah’s resignation was accepted by Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad, reported Thursday.
A notification has been isused in this regard by the authorities concerned.

All ministers, advisors, special assistants, coordinators, political secretaries and political assistants have been ordered to not use their offices anymore.
A formal letter pertaining to Qaim Ali Shah’s resignation has also been issued by the Governor House.

The development has come in after Pakistan People’s Party leadership decided to replace Qaim Ali Shah with Murad Ali Shah who currently is the Finance Minister of Sindh.
For election, Murad needs 85 votes in the Sindh Assembly and the process will be carried out on Friday. PPP has 91 seats in the assembly out of which few members are out of the country and are not expected to be present tomorrow.

PPP leaders are contacting members of different political parties to secure vote of confidence for their nominee.

On the other hand, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has nominated Khurram Zaman Khan as candidate for the vacancy.

Qaim Ali Shah’s tenure as Chief Minister was marked by mismanagement and ill state of affairs in Sindh. PPP leadership’s decision has come in to better manage the provincial matters.
The PPP nominee, while talking to Dunya News on Wednesday said that he would better law and order situation to a level that people would vote for PPP in General Elections 2018.

Experts have said that Murad main task will be to have PPP win in the province in 2018.

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PPP names Murad Ali Shah as new Sindh CM

Pakistan's Largest Party PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari  presided a meeting of the parliamentary party at the Bilawal House where Qaim Ali Shah submitted his resignation. The meeting lasted for three hours.
PPP chairman took party leaders into confidence on the decision.

Speaking at a press conference, Adviser to CM for Information, Moula Bux Chandio, confirmed the nomination of Murad Ali Shah as CM and said that a 'change' has come in the province.

Shah is expected to be elected as the chief minister during the Sindh Assembly session on Friday, while the oath-taking ceremony would also take place on the same day.

Chandio further said that consultation was ongoing for the replacement of Qaim Ali Shah for quite some time and that Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari paid tributes to him for his services.

There was a need for more energetic and courageous leader to prepare for the next elections, he said, adding that the names of Murad Ali Shah's team would also be revealed in a couple of days.

Some other changes in the provincial government are also likely as the Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani might become the minister for local government, a position he had held in the previous provincial cabinet.
Dr Sikandar Mandhro, Minister for Environment, could be the new speaker of the Sindh Assembly. Senior Minister for Education and Parliamentary Affairs Nisar Ahmed Khuhro could be given the slot of either home or finance. Mir Nadir Khan Magsi is likely to rejoin the provincial cabinet as food minister, a portfolio he had in the previous provincial government.

Jam Khan Shoro, the Minister for Local Government, could be given the charge of Prisons Department.It is likely that 50 percent of the new provincial cabinet would comprise newcomers including three women MPAs, Rubina Sadaat Qaimkhani, Shaheena Sher Ali and Irum Khalid, as ministers or advisers. 

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Education by Sindh Education Foundation

Sindh Government’s Education and Literacy Department plays the supervisory role in primary education and manages secondary education, technical education, motivation programs, development schemes and to look after the educational affairs of the province with the co-ordination of donor agencies about the promotion of education in the province.

Sindh Education Foundation Government of Sindh, a semi-autonomous organization established in 1992 to undertake educational initiatives in the remote and disadvantaged areas of Sindh. The Foundation’s early activities began with the provision of grants and loans to educational institutions and organizations. However, SEF now provides communities with direct access to facilities to get the education by opening schools/centers through its various endeavors.

In addition, the Foundation undertakes research initiatives, both the qualitative and quantitative, to study the impact of its programs and recognize improved systems for community improvement. SEF's publications include Educate is Pakistan's 1st Magazine on Education & Development, also Pakistan’s Pioneer Publication on Early Childhood Development, Collective, Quantitative Analysis Booklet, the organization’s Newsletter, SEF ten-year documents and various literacy manuals.

The variety of SEF's goals can principally describe as follows:

•                  Evolve programs for lift up the standard of education.

•           Conduct research programs or surveys or hold workshops, conferences, symposium, to study the educational system, to find shortfalls and weak points and make suggestions or necessary measures for its improvement.

•               Offer financial help or grant under soft terms and conditions.

            Establish educational institutions, especially in less                              developed/less privileged areas.

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Sindh Education Foundation

Sindh Government’s Education and Literacy Department plays the supervisory role in primary education and manages secondary education, technical education, motivation programs, development schemes and to look after the educational affairs of the province with the co-ordination of donor agencies about the promotion of education in the province.

Sindh Education Foundation Government of Sindh, a semi-autonomous organization established in 1992 to undertake educational initiatives in the remote and disadvantaged areas of Sindh. The Foundation’s early activities began with the provision of grants and loans to educational institutions and organizations. However, SEF now provides communities with direct access to facilities to get the education by opening schools/centers through its various endeavors.

In addition, the Foundation undertakes research initiatives, both the qualitative and quantitative, to study the impact of its programs and recognize improved systems for community improvement. SEF's publications include Educate is Pakistan's 1st Magazine on Education & Development, also Pakistan’s Pioneer Publication on Early Childhood Development, Collective, Quantitative Analysis Booklet, the organization’s Newsletter, SEF ten-year documents and various literacy manuals.

The variety of SEF's goals can principally describe as follows:

•                  Evolve programs for lift up the standard of education.

•           Conduct research programs or surveys or hold workshops, conferences, symposium, to study the educational system, to find shortfalls and weak points and make suggestions or necessary measures for its improvement.

•               Offer financial help or grant under soft terms and conditions.

            Establish educational institutions, especially in less                              developed/less privileged areas.

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Education in Sindh

Pakistan’s seaport province Sindh plays vital role in economy, but in return power players ignore education sector of Sindh, resting it is on lowest level, though there are some urban areas institutions have shown considerable improvement. However, due to the corruption in this sector, the quality of education is unfortunately on a down root. The government must look at the total enrollment, number of out of school children, too. Sindh government spends 22 percent on education which is indeed a healthy figure.

From 2013 the education sector is a depressing picture to have a look on the quality of education. A recent estimation shows less participation of boys and they are compelled to do the work of child labor especially, in rural areas due to poverty. The education of girls is satisfying in the cities, but girls are deprived from education in most rural and urban areas. Every government especially PPP after success in 2008 election had promised to work upon the poor education system in the province. But they could not fulfill its commitment no any proper policies for education brought for development.

The central government has also ignored this matter and the NGOs also don’t focus on rural areas to build up the broken system of education in the province. The government has to come up with appropriate measures in order to rise up the literacy rate by building up the broken system.

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