Sindh govt refuses to avail services of Tiger Force, says governor Imran Ismail

The Sindh government has refused to avail the services of the Tiger Force constituted by the federal government to combat the coronavirus emergency in the country, said Sindh Governor Imran Ismail on Tuesday.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan has assigned the responsibility of the force to me for its voluntary work in the province to be launched immediately after Eidul Fitr,” Ismail said while addressing a press conference at the Governor House

The Sindh governor said that after the refusal of the Sindh government, other political parties would be taken along to avail the services of the nascent Tiger Force for bringing relief to the people during the coronavirus emergency.

He said people who had enlisted their services for the Tiger Force didn’t belong to any political party as they had come forward just to do voluntary social work and nothing else without any monetary benefit.

He said it was unfortunate that the Sindh government had decided not to avail the services of Tiger Force.

The governor said that so far 1,57,000 people had enrolled for the Tiger Force in Sindh and “it will come into action immediately after Eidul Fitr” under his leadership.

In the first phase, the volunteers of the Tiger Force would be deputed at the Ehsaas emergency cash dispensation centres and utility stores in the province, the governor said.

He said the volunteers of the Tiger Force would ensure that customers were not being overcharged at any utility store in the province. “Whereas the same volunteers will render assistance to the needy people coming to the Ehsaas centres for getting the emergency cash assistance being provided by the federal government during the lockdown measures.”

To a question regarding the proposal of Sindh Assembly opposition leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi that the governor’s rule should be imposed in the province “owing to the inefficiency of the Sindh government”, the governor said that no such proposal was under consideration at the moment as he came to know about such an issue only through the television. To a question regarding the differences between the Sindh and the federal governments, he said they were required to work together with the federation for the betterment of the province.

“If in case I have any issue, I am in the habit of directly talking to the chief minister. Likewise, the provincial government should bring to the knowledge of the prime minister if it has any problem,” he said.

He recalled that from the day one it was the viewpoint of the prime minister that the country could not afford a complete lockdown against the spread of the coronavirus. He said the economic situation of the country didn’t allow a complete lockdown.

“With the grace of God, our situation has been a lot better than other countries but we should continue to observe the precautions. People should follow the SOPs announced by the federal and provincial governments,” he said.

He said there was a possibility of a complete shutdown once more in the country if the people didn’t follow the SOPs.

To a question, he said tenders would be issued immediately after Eidul Fitr to make operational the Green Line section of the Bus Rapid Transit Service in Karachi being constructed by the federal government “as a facilitation agreement has been signed in this regard in the previous day”.

The governor said his services were fully available if in case the doctors and paramedics in the province required personal protective equipment as being the frontline staff against the coronavirus epidemic.

Meanwhile, it was informed on the occasion that those who volunteered for the Tiger Force in Sindh included 48,416 students, 2,275 medical workers, 9,251 engineers, 5,931 teachers, 10,293 civil servants, 1,877 armed forces personnel, 3,959 NGO workers, 591 journalists, 15,822 businessmen, 1,099 lawyers, 21,124 social workers, and 3,788 are from the corporate sector. While by qualification, 31,751 of them have done matriculation / O Levels, 34,207 FA / FSc / A Levels, 22,558 bachelor’s degrees, 11,671 master’s degrees, 533 MBBS, 943 MPhil / MS, 264 doctorates, 98 post-doctorates, and 16,928 have passed middle school.