Karachi:
Sindh -Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who ended the budget debate, called the opposition’s rebellion during the Sindh Assembly Session as wrongdoing. He said assembly rules were not followed during the budget, the opposition behaved inappropriately and tried to disturb his budget speech.
He said Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has a clear majority in the house and can pass on the budget, but they will still take everyone together.
CM claimed that the Sindh government provides services to the public in any sector. He said this time 135 members were talking about the budget and more than 42 hours were awarded for debate, reflecting the democratic process.
Comparison of development budgets of other provinces, Murad said, Sindh’s development budget is 30 percent of the total amount, which is more than Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
He revealed that the federal government had promised to give Sindh RS1.9 trillion at the beginning of the year, but after the budget this amount was reduced to RS1,796 trillion, which he called unreasonable. He mentioned that Sindh collected taxes at a higher rate than the federal government.
When he talked about agriculture, CM Opposers raised against federal policies regarding agricultural taxes and said bad decisions led to the need to import wheat. He said Sindh has set a target of RS8 billion from agricultural income tax for the next financial year.
He listed several initiatives related to education, health, disability support, autism centers and youth development centers. He also mentioned projects such as Sich Child Emergency Network, a new IUT in Larkana, new ambulances and a fishing support program.
Murad announced an increase of 10 to 12 percent in government employees’ wages and an increase in pensions of eight percent. He also declared the abolition of professionals and entertainment fees and tax relief on vehicles.
To refute media reports that Karachi is ignored, he highlighted mega projects worth RS12 billion for the city.
Finally, CM said that if God and his party wanted to, he was ready to remain minister of chief for 18 years.
Opposition leader Ali Khurshidi criticized during his budget vigorously PPP’s 17-year-old rule. He said the increase in party seats was not due to performance, but due to other factors as public questions have worsened instead of being resolved. He called for the cancellation of failed and delayed projects and said old schemes are a burden on ADP.
Khurshidi pointed out the lack of basic facilities in Karachi and poor fixed waste management. He said Karachi generates revenue, but the city does not get its proper share. He also criticized the federal government and said that Sindh’s rightful share is being retained.
He also threw the government over the water crisis, a lean quota for police personnel and questions related to K-electric. Khurshidi said the Karachi mayor has full support for the management, but still there are no problems with problems.
The session was postponed until 1 p.m. 11 on Tuesday.
