DADU: Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh has said that as many as 700 primary schools, out of the total 2,100, are lying closed in Dadu district although their budgets are released every year. Feudal lords have been using the buildings of these schools as their autaqs (guesthouses).

Mr Sheikh was speaking to local reporters during his visit to the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Cadet College, Kakar, in the Kachho area on Tuesday.

He condemned the Sindh government for taking no measures towards reopening of the schools, and alleged that the education department was plagued with mega corruption.

He noted that the construction of the Kakar cadet college, spread over an area of 104 acres, was started in 2008 and the groundbreaking was performed by then president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari. “Thirteen years on, the construction work is yet to be completed,” he wondered.

He noted that funds for the construction were being allocated in every annual budget but there was no accountability regarding the expenditure. Ironically, the allocation kept increasing every year, he added.

Mr Sheikh pointed out that several hundred such schemes and projects pertaining to different departments in Sindh were initiated but never completed. He said contractors and government functionaries had been plundering tax payers’ money using different tactics. He deplored that no development was seen on the ground despite release of billions of rupees under this head.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf vice president urged the National Accountability Bureau chairman to take up all such cases to unearth mega corruption, especially in education department’s Dadu district office.

He said the situation in Tharparkar, Kohistan and other such backward areas of Sindh was no different. Hundreds of thousands of children were out of schools due to the situation, he said, adding that the PPP government had totally destroyed education sector in the province.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2021