KARACHI: The Sindh government had bestowed out-of-turn promotions on 41 junior officials, the luckiest among them all happened to be a junior clerk in the industries department who made a great leapt from BPS-7 to BPS-17.

But their luck appeared to have run out as all of them had now been reverted to their previous positions under a Supreme Court order, it emerged during the question hour about the industries department at the Sindh Assembly session on Friday.

Sindh Law and Parliamentary AffairsMinisterDrSikanderMandhro was responding to legislators` questions in the absence of Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah who held the additional charge of the ministry.

The luckiest recipient of promotions, or perhaps the most well-connected one, who had had a jump of 10 grades, was Sana Urooj, a clerk in BPS-7. She was promoted to the post of deputy director(BPS-17)before being reverted to her original position following the Supreme Court order, said the written reply provided by the minister in answer to PML-F legislator Nusrat Sahar Abbasi`s query.

It said that 10 clerks (BPS-7) who were given a nine-grade jump to the posts of assistant directors (BPS-16) were; Sunder Kumar, Raquiya Farooque, Noorudin Channa, Faisal Hamid, Mazhar Akhtar, M. Saad Qureshi, Kamran Hussain, M.

Shahnawaz Channa, Syed Aftab Ali Shah, and Abdul Sattar Solangi.

Seventeen clerks (BPS-7) were given a seven-grade elevation to the posts of assistants (BPS-14) and they were; Mohammad Abid, Amber Usman, Uzma Ansari, Syed Zeeshan Hussain Hashmi, Amir Ali Leghari, Asim Meer, Khurram Akhtar Memon, Riaz Ahmed Soomro, Ashique Ali Shahani, Mohammad Adnan Lodhi, Aftab Ahmed, Imtiaz Ahmed, Asif Hakeem, Noor Mohammad Khoso,Fida Hussain, Husnain Farooque and Ali Haider Brohi.

It said that an assistant (BPS-14) Mohammad Tanveer Khan had been promoted to the post of deputy director (BPS-17).

The list further revealed that four assistants (BPS-14) had been promoted to post of assistant directors (BPS-16). They were; Ameeruddin Channa, Manzoor Hussain, Mumtaz Bano and M. Muneer Khan.

An assistant director (BPS-16) Mohammad Naeem was promoted to the post of joint director (BPS-18) and PS to MD, Shabana Naz, was elevated to BPS-18 but she held onto the same post of the PS to MD.

Two instructors and an assistant director (BPS-16) were promoted to the posts of BPS-17. They were; Farzana Mangi, Farzana Danwar and Sajjad Haider.

Deputy director Dr Sarwat Faheem was upgraded to the post of director (BPS19), and deputy director (BPS17) Naseem Akhtar was made joint director (BPS-18).

A joint director Rashida Hafeez (BPS-18) was promoted to the post of director (BPS-19).

Responding to a supplementary question by the PML-F legislator that why, how and when the officials were promoted, Dr Mandhro said that in these promotions the government had used the powers it acquired under a notification issued on Nov 23, 1978 that authorised it to make promotions of deserving employees on merit-cumseniority basis.

But some time ago the Supreme Court ordered that all such promotions, deputations, etc be cancelled and beneficiaries be sent back to their original posts and departments, so the government had followed that order, said the minister without giving the date when the beneficiaries were given promotions.

To another question asked by Ms Abbasi if any industry had closed down because of gas shortages, the minister replied in the negative.Responding to a short notice question asked by opposition leader Shaharyar Mahar that why sugar cane price in Sindh was Rs155 per 40 kilogrammes whereas in Punjab it was Rs182 per 40 kg, agriculture minister Ali Nawaz Mahar said that sugar cane price in Sindh was also fixed at Rs182 but the sugar mill owners demanded that sugar prices should also be revised upwards. When it was not done they did not start their mills and moved the court which ordered fixation of the prices, he said.

The minister said that since the millers were not ready to start the boilers till sugar prices were fixed, so as an interim arrangement the cane price had been fixed at Rs155 and now when the sugar price had been refixed, the cane price would also be revised and the millers would pay the price difference between Rs155 and the new price to growers.

Speaker Durrani did not allow many government legislators to speak who were saying that many millers had not even cleared the last year`s cane dues of growers.

Sardar Ahmed of Muttahida Qaumi Movement said that some mechanism be evolved so that the sugar cane was picked up by mills on time as the growers suffered when sugar cane was left standing to dry up due to delay in lifting.

Answering another short question by MQM legislator Kamran Akhtar about update on a 65 mgd water supply project for the city as people in district west were suffering owing to water shortages, local bodies minister Sharjeel Memon said the government was working on it and alternate arrangements were being made to supply water to affected areas till a permanent solution was made.

He said the shortages were caused by a drop in water level in the Hub Dam. The situation would improve soon, he added.

Naheed Begum of MQM, Nand Kumar of PML-F and others also participated in the question hour.