Karachi: Imran Ismail has tendered his resignation after serving as the 33rd Governor of Sindh province for around three years and seven months.
Ismail sent his resignation to President Dr Arif Alvi while expressing his wish to quit on an immediate basis. He earlier took part in a protest held in Karachi on April 10 against the removal of Imran Khan as prime minister and announced to step down as the Governor as soon as Shahbaz Sharif was elected as the new PM.
Ismail took oath as Sindh Governor on August 27, 2018 soon after Imran Khan became PM as a result of the last general election held in the country earlier in that year. Soon after assuming office, he opened parts of the Governor House in Karachi, a heritage building, to the general public for the first time on the directives of the PM.
Ismail launched guided tour progrmme for school students so that they could visit certain portions of Governor House especially preserved as the same building was earlier used as the official residence of first Governor General of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The guided tour programme was launched on September 7, 2018 and till May 2019 benefited some 8,000 students and 83 teachers in 83 different batches.
The venue of the Governor House was also opened for hosting literary, social, cultural events, and carnivals.
Ismail, in addition to three other provincial governors during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s regime, had to play a special mediatory role to represent PTI’s federal government in Sindh, where the opposition Pakistan People’s Party has been in power for years.
Ismail as Governor also established the forum of Sindh Industrial Liaison Committee to resolve the issues of industrialists and businessmen of Karachi.
He also played an important role in improving civic infrastructure and services in Karachi as envisioned by the former PM Khan as PTI secured majority of the National Assembly seats from the provincial capital in the general elections of 2018. During PTI’s regime, Green Line Bus Rapid Transit Service was launched as first modern mass transit system in Karachi and 50 new fire engines were given by the federal government to enhance the firefighting capacity of the city.
