Centre asks Sindh to complete formalities: Prime Minister's directive on Hyderabad's old status

In order to comply with the orders of the Prime Minister, the federal government has instructed the Sindh government to complete all legal formalities to restore the old status of Hyderabad district, it is learnt.
According to sources, the Board of Revenue (BoR) has recently received a letter from the federal government asking it to complete the entire process so that the centuries-old historic status of district Hyderabad could be restored with the consultation of Sindh government's coalition partner Muttehida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, during his visit to Hyderabad on last Saturday, had announced to restore the status of the district, which led to unrest among the leaders of MQM and other political parties, including Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F).
However, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leaders were demanding of its leaders to remain firm on the issue, and revive the district's status, which was divided into three smaller districts by the former PML-Q-led Sindh government, sources said.
They said that the BoR has prepared a detailed report about the current status of Hyderabad district and problems being faced by the masses. The PM had taken this decision after meeting elected representatives of different districts, particularly Hyderabad, Tando Mohammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, and Matiyari, during his visit, they said. The idea of the previous government regarding division of the district has failed as no relief is provided to the masses, they claimed while quoting the report.
The newly formed three districts enjoy status of a town and spending billions of rupees for constructing government offices, schools and other infrastructure would put an extra burden on the national exchequer, they added.
Officials said that division of Hyderabad was politically motivated. Had the former rulers really wanted to provide relief to the masses then they should have divided Thatta, Badin, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar districts first as they are bigger in size as compared to Hyderabad, the report further said.
They said that the residents of new districts remained attached with Hyderabad because it is known as the second largest city of the province. The revenue department had resisted the move of the previous government but the then chief minister, Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim, had rejected the concerns shown by the department and many political parties, and divided Hyderabad "illegally".