Emergency funding approved to accelerate work on Red Line

“KARACHI: The Sindh cabinet on Thursday approved off-budget emergency funding to TransKarachi, enabling the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) to accelerate construction on the long-delayed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Red Line project. The FWO was awarded the contract for Lot 2, a 12.85-kilometre stretch from Numaish Chowrangi to Mosamiyat, after the previous joint-venture contractor was terminated for persistent delays and non-compliance. The cabinet authorised the direct engagement of FWO under a government-to-government arrangement. A 90-day deadline has been set to complete mixed-traffic lanes, underpasses, elevated structures, and drainage networks along University Road. According to a statement issued by the CM House, the FWO has already deployed personnel and heavy machinery to commence work, aiming to provide rapid relief and restore the corridor. Sindh cabinet also okays draft law on regulating JPMC, NICH management Later, while briefing the media on the cabinet decisions at a press conference, Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that the Sindh government had established 10 centres for children with autism across the province, and that the federal government was seeking assistance to set up a similar facility in Islamabad. He said that a memorandum of understanding had been signed between the federal and provincial governments for technical support. In response to questions, the senior minister said that the Sindh government had sufficient wheat stocks and that wheat prices in Sindh were lower than those in Punjab. He said that Sindh had recorded a bumper wheat harvest this year, owing to effective policies of the provincial government and support for farmers through the Benazir Hari Card. “The Sindh Cabinet has ordered strict action against wheat hoarding, restricted inter-provincial movement, and directed the Food Department to take action against hoarders,” he added. The senior minister said that the cabinet had also approved several development and administrative decisions, including the upgradation of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Wellness and Recreational Park in Sukkur and the establishment of a dedicated women’s block at Mir Masoom Shah Library, Sukkur. “Additionally, the cabinet approved an additional grant of over Rs916.1 million for food arrangements in Sindh prisons,” he added. He said that other key decisions included the approval of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and National Institute of Child Health (NICH) Operation and Management Act 2025, a new legal framework for managing medical institutions transferred from the federal government, and a uniform postgraduate admissions system across government medical institutions, with an allocation of Rs4.739 billion for 3,794 training seats. Mr Memon said that the cabinet had also allowed fishing activities from June 1 to 15, 2026, to provide temporary economic relief to fishermen. He said that the cabinet had allowed the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) to establish campuses outside Sindh, including in Islamabad. Sukkur projects approved The statement from the CM House said that the cabinet had also approved two major development projects for Sukkur with an immediate allocation of Rs80m. The first project entails the development and upgradation of the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Wellness and Recreational Park in Sukkur, located adjacent to the Sindh Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, at a cost of Rs228.50m. The second project allocates Rs110.346m for the establishment of a dedicated women’s block at the Mir Masoom Shah Library in Sukkur, which operates in affiliation with the Digital British Council Library in Karachi. The cabinet also approved an additional allocation of over Rs916.14m for prisons in the current financial year under the head of jail food charges. Bill to formalise Sindh’s control of JPMC, NICH The cabinet cleared for legislation the “Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and National Institute of Child Health (NICH) Operation and Management Act, 2025”, following the transfer of these tertiary care institutions from the federal government to the Sindh government under an operations and management agreement. While the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) already functions under its own provincial legal framework, the new bill formalises Sindh’s control over JPMC and NICH. It standardises recruitment rules for the executive director and introduces a formal mechanism for removal on grounds of unsatisfactory performance or incapacity. To retain federal-provincial coordination, the composition of the governing board has been expanded to include a joint secretary from the federal Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC). The bill will now be introduced in the Sindh Assembly. Responding to a volatile regional environment and the need to maintain uninterrupted supplies of life-saving drugs, the cabinet approved a modified proposal to continue the existing Electronic Provincial Procurement Data System (EPADS) framework tender for the financial year 2026-27. The cabinet also approved the allocation of 670 square yards of vacant state land from Na Class No. 255 situated at Deh Lal Bakhar, Mauripur subdivision, District Keamari, following a request from the Surveyor General of Pakistan. The land will be leased for 99 years to the Survey of Pakistan, Ministry of Defence, for the establishment of a strategic tide gauge station and levelling origin at French Beach, Karachi. Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2026

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