HYDERABAD, Aug 2: People’s Party Parliamentarians MNA from Hyderabad (rural) taluka Syed Amir Ali Shah Jamote has criticised the method adopted by authorities to conduct house census and termed it a conspiracy to convert the majority into a minority, especially in rural Sindh.

He was speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Wednesday.

Rejecting the house census, he said the boycott by teachers had jeopardised the conduct of house census and as a result, preparation of correct lists of voters had become impossible.

The PPP leader claimed that it was the plan of vested interests to ensure that all houses and voters were registered in urban talukas of Hyderabad and Latifabad, Qasimabad, while neglecting Hyderabad (rural) in the house census.

He claimed that in the Qasimabad taluka, 80 per cent houses and voters had not been counted. He said the correct situation could be gauged from the fact that his house was not included in the census though he was an MNA.

He said the same was the case in rural areas where no conveyance had been provided to the census staff due to which they could not visit all villages.

Mr Jamote said another major problem confronting the rural population was that 80 per cent people were without national identity cards.

He said that due to price hike, people had no money to get NICs and urged the government to issue NICs to poor people free. He alleged that it was the policy of the government to deprive people of their right of franchise by making issuance of NICs as difficult as possible.

He said this was being done to appease coalition partners of federal and Sindh governments. He warned that if people were denied their right of franchise, consequences would be dangerous.

The MNA also distributed copies of a letter he had written to the deputy election commissioner of Hyderabad, expressing his reservations about the house census, especially in his constituency.

In the letter, he said: “The magnitude of the complaint from my constituency shows that there is a planned conspiracy to disenfranchise the ruling population in those areas that do not vote for the government parties”

He requested the deputy election commissioner to take notice of the malpractice and take action against culprits, otherwise he would be forced to approach the court.

The others who were present at the press conference and supported his allegations included three union council nazims of Qasimabad and Hyderabad (rural) – Yamin Soomro, Mehboob Abro and Babar Khan – and local PPP leaders Amanullah Siyal Syed Fayaz Shah, Mir Fateh Talpur and Aftab Khanzada.

SCHOLARSHIPS: University of Sindh vice-chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui has called upon young faculty members to act as academic ambassadors of their alma mater in foreign universities during their higher studies.