LARKANA, July 26: The Sindh government has sanctioned Rs50 million for remodelling of the Saifullah Magsi Branch to ensure supply of water to growers in Shahdadkot and its adjacent areas.

This was disclosed by the adviser to the Sindh chief minister, Mir Sultan Ahmad Khuhawar, while speaking at a gathering in Shahdadkot on Monday. Mr Khuhawar admitted that Shahdadkot, Mirokhan, Ratodero and Warah talukas were facing water shortage.

He said deployment of Rangers' personnel at canals and their watercourses had yielded positive results. He also asked irrigation officials to keep vigilance on water theft.

He said under the MPA programme, Rs10 million had been approved to provide education facilities and brick pavements in Shahdadkot and surrounding villages. The adviser hinted at lifting the ban on employment in the province and said recruitment would be made on the basis of merit.

He observed that industrialisation could help reduce unemployment. Mr Khuhawar said the government had provided incentives to farmers and agriculturists and mark-up on loans had been reduced from 13 to nine per cent to boost the agriculture sector. He said loans would also be provided to people for small business.

LAW AND ORDER: Activists of the Sindh Tarqqi Pasand Party held a protest demonstration and observed a token hunger strike outside the press club here on Monday against the poor law and order situation in the district.

Speaking on the occasion, Larkana STPP president Ahmad Nawaz Brohi, Khair Mohammad Magsi and others criticized the district administration for failing to improve the situation. They condemned the kidnapping of trader Santosh Kumar and demanded his and other kidnap victims' release.business.

TALUKA NAZIMS: A group of members of the union council-5 have accused district and taluka nazims of ignoring the council in development schemes. In a press statement issued here on Monday, 17 councillors said the nazims had not allocated funds for development schemes in union councils judiciously.

The councillors warned that they would launch a protest campaign against the nazims if development works were not initiated in the union council. The statement was signed by Mumtaz Chandio, Sadik Joseph, Ghulam Qadir Aheer, Sakina Siyal, Noorjehan Memon, Zubida Soomro, Saba Parveen, Ali Hassan Lashari and others.