HYDERABAD, Oct 4: The Sindh Minister for Works and Services, Manzoor Hussain Wassan, has said that the provincial government has prepared a comprehensive plan to maintain law and order and to extirpate crime from the province in an effective manner.

He blamed the previous government and its policies for the prevalent lawlessness in the province and said that the present government was striving hard to protect the life and property of the masses.

The minister was talking to the newsmen at the residence of the director-general (design), Sindh Highways Department, Munawar Junejo, who had recently been recovered from the clutches of kidnappers.

Mr Wassan said that whenever the Pakistan People’s Party took over the charge, it was welcomed by a disturbing law and order situation. However, he said, the government had prepared a comprehensive strategy to initiate stern action against unscrupulous elements and to establish the writ of the government.

Responding to a query, he said that the government would not at all compromise and would not succumb to any sort of pressure. He said that all the criminals would be booked and produce in court so that they could be punished according to law.

Referring to the kidnap of Munawar Junejo, the minister expressed satisfaction over the performance of the police. He said that the police not only arrested some of the kidnappers, but also recovered a major chunk of amount, which the criminals had received as ransom for the release of Mr Junejo.

The minister said that he came here not only to inquire about the details of the case but boost up the morale of the officers with an assurance that strict action would be taken against the criminals.

Responding to a question about employment, the minister dispelled the impression of awarding jobs on a quota to the allied parties and maintained that jobs were being provided to the unemployed youth purely on merit.

The minister said that the government had formed selection committees for grant of employment at vacant posts from Grade 1 to 15 and if the workers of any political parties including the PPP succeeded in fulfilling the set criteria of the selection committees, they would be provided with suitable jobs.

The minister said that the present government fully believed to provide employment in any department purely on merit.

Mr Wassan termed the recently concluded visit of President Asif Ali Zardari to the US successful and said that the visit also helped other countries in understanding the internal and external problems being faced by Pakistan.—APP