KARACHI: Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Faisal Sabzwari on Thursday said Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah was responsible for the affairs of the province.

MQM leaders were talking to reporters outside the Sindh Assembly building.

Sabzwari said the chief minister was trying to hide his government's incompetency by citing lack of health facilities as the reason of famine, adding that Shah had, time and again, admitted it on the floor of the Sindh Assembly that malnutrition in the region was the actual cause.

The MQM leader said putting blame on the party's former health minister was uncalled for as the programme to end malnutrition in the region was being administered by the province's planning and development department — headed by the chief minister himself.

He further said that Shah used to praise Dr Saghir Ahmed's work on the floor of the assembly.

Read: Qaim dismisses child deaths from Thar famine

Sabzwari lashed out at the provincial government for its lack of seriousness over the issue. "We should be ashamed of ourselves that children are dying rather than finding excuses," the MQM leader said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Shah said that deaths of children being reported in Tharparkar were largely on account of maternity related complications and not because of hunger or food.

The chief minister also urged the media to show some large-heartedness now as it had been very ‘generous’ in its criticism of the government’s performance regarding Thar.

During his press conference, Shah was quite critical of former Sindh health minister and MQM Coordination Committee member Dr Saghir Ahmed and said that he had never visited Thar.

“He should have visited Thar when he was the minister and should have apprised himself of the situation. He should have heard from doctors here,” the Sindh chief minister said.

He maintained that the health ministry had been with the MQM for the last 20 years. “We got it [health ministry] only a few weeks back,” he said.

The Thar desert is facing drought conditions for the last three years. Famine has triggered large scale migration of marginalised groups.