Sindh, Gilgit-Baltistan agree to cooperate on health, revenue and housing

Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan have agreed to cooperate in health care, revenue administration and housing, according to reports carried by two national newspapers. Neither report set out the terms of the arrangement, named the officials who concluded it, or gave a date.

The Nation and The News International both carried the development, describing it as an agreement to boost cooperation between the two governments in the three sectors. The reports did not say where the understanding was reached, whether it takes the form of a memorandum of understanding or a formal accord, or what either side has committed to provide.

Health care is an area where Gilgit-Baltistan's system leans on referrals to larger public and private hospitals elsewhere in the country, including in Sindh. Housing and revenue administration are provincial subjects, and any sharing of staff, expertise or resources between Sindh and Gilgit-Baltistan would rest on administrative arrangements between the two governments rather than on federal legislation.

Gilgit-Baltistan has its own elected assembly and government and is administered under the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order. Its departments have in the past entered into service and training arrangements with other provinces. Sindh operates a larger network of public hospitals and a bigger revenue bureaucracy than Gilgit-Baltistan.

Skardu Times could not independently confirm the scope of the agreement. Details of what the cooperation will mean in practice, including any funding, staffing or timelines, were not available in either report.

This story will be updated if the two governments publish the terms or issue a statement.