Daily Times

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah, on Wednesday, inducted four new ministers in his cabinet.

With the induction of four more ministers, the number of provincial cabinet members has gone up to 12. In addition to the 12 ministers, two advisors are also members of CM Murad’s cabinet.

The newly inducted ministers include Mukhesh Kumar Chawla, Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh, Syed Nasir Shah and Faraz Ahmed Dero. Sindh Governor Imran Ismail administered oath to the newly appointed ministers in a simple ceremony held at the Governor House. Following the oathtaking ceremony, CM Murad and Governor Imran Ismail congratulated the provincial ministers.

Mukesh Kumar Chawla belongs to Kashmore-Kandhkot district and is MPA on a reserved seat. In the last tenure of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government, Chawla served as the provincial minister for Excise and Taxation.

Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh, a bureaucrat-turned politician, is a parliamentarian from Shikarpur. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) minister has previous experience as a lawmaker because he got elected to the Sindh Assembly in May 2013.

The third new minister is Syed Nasir Shah, a parliamentarian from Rohri, Sukkur District. Shah served as the Information minister during PPP’s last tenure in Sindh.

Faraz Dero is a member of parliament (MPA) from Tando Adam in Sanghar district Sanghar. This will be his first term as a provincial minister. The parliamentarian got voted into the Sindh Assembly the second time in the 2018 general elections.

The oath taking ceremony was attended by PPP Sindh chapter’s president Nisar Khuhro, provincial ministers and advisors, Chief Secretary, Inspector General Police (IGP), family members of the newly appointed ministers and members of civil society. Reportedly, the portfolio of these ministers will be announced later.

Earlier on August 19, a 10-member Sindh cabinet took oath in a ceremony held at the Governor House.

During the ceremony, acting Governor Agha Siraj Durrani administered oath to the 10-member cabinet which was approved by PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the advice of Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah.

Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Seth Hariram Kishorilal, Saeed Ghani, Mohammad Ismail Rahu, Mir Shabbir Ali Bijarani, Murtaza Wahab, Makhdoom Mehboob uz Zaman, Sardar Shah, Shehla Raza and Sardar Mohammad Buksh Mahar took oath as provincial ministers.

Published in Daily Times, September 6^th 2018.