Sindh Minister for Population Welfare Syed Ali Mardan Shah has said that there were no differences among the Pakistan People's Party on the issue of chief ministership and the entire party cadre was following the policy of leadership in the regard. Addressing a seminar in connection with "World Population Day" and talking to media persons on the occasion, here on Tuesday he said political change in Sindh was not a big deal and Syed Qaim Ali Shah served the province thrice as chief minister and during his recent tenures he carried out record development works in Sindh so his tenure would be remembered for a long time.
He said that it has been decided to extend powers of Rangers with regard to Karachi as overall law and order situation in the most of the areas of Sindh province was better than Karachi and there was no need of deputing Rangers for policing purpose in the province.
In reply to a question, the minister said that offices of Population Welfare Department (PWD) were established in rented buildings throughout the province and now funds were allocated for construction of district office of the department at Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas in current financial budget while repair of 19 rural health centers and monitoring system to discourage absenteeism were other important projects of the ministry for the fiscal year.
About provision of expired tablets by PWD he said no such tablets were distributed. He said trained skilled staff of the department was extending medical assistance and providing medicines and contraceptives to women. Earlier addressing the seminar, he said annually marriages of around 80 million girls were solemnized below the age of 18 around the world and it results in unsafe deliveries in 3.2 million women. He said the Sindh Assembly has passed an Act for prevention of childhood marriages and now any person solemnizing or facilitating underage marriage could be booked and imprisoned for violation of the law as underage marriages were causing multiple health problems for teenage girls.
Policies and investment in education and health empowers teenage girls and create economic opportunities were particularly important countries with large and emerging youth population, he said adding that such countries stand to realise a demographic dividend which has the potential to bolster and speed up economic growth.
Provincial secretary PWD, Saleem Raza Khuhro, said, programme for organising awareness seminars in all the districts has been drafted to impart awareness among the masses regarding early marriages and their implications of health and society. International Programme Officer UNFPA Sindh, highlighting the similarities between women of Pakistan and Nepal said extending equal rights to women was imperative for progress of country and women folk could brighten their future by focusing attention towards education.
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