Karachi
Leader Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Khawaja Izharul Hassan demanded a 50 percent increase in both the development budget and government job-quota for people residing in Sindh’s urban centres, if the province was to be saved from a division.
Speaking during the general discussion on budget, which continued for the seventh day on Thursday, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s (MQM) MPA lambasted the government for estimating a tax collection of Rs166 billion from the city but allocating a mere Rs10 billion for its development projects.
Local government system in the metropolis was demanded to be empowered, besides constitution of a provincial finance commission on the lines of the National Finance Commission.
The commission was sought for judicial distribution of available provincial resources among the districts.
He decried the government for increasing indirect taxes while there was no plan in place to collect direct taxes; this he stated would cause further economic burden on the already impoverished masses.
Hasan continued his speech amidst slogans of separation of Sindh by other MQM lawmakers, stating that he feared the youth residing in Sindh’s urban centres would not be considered for the 50,000 jobs announced by the provincial government for the coming financial year.
The leader opposition stated that as per the latest estimates, Karachi’s per capita development expenditure of the Sindh govt was a mere Rs2,200.
He further expressed apprehension over Rs225 billion development budget being squandered owing to the corrupt practices rampant in the province.
The lawmaker further lashed out over allocation of Rs11 billion for the chief minister’s secretariat and called for it to be slashed to Rs0.5 billion.
“The allocation should be re-appropriated for the welfare of drought-hit residents of Thar.”
Referring to the dismissal of former city commissioner Asif Hyder Shah, he said an officer heading the operation for removal of advertising billboards was instead removed from his post as punishment.
“Thousands of trees had been cut down only to make space of illegal advertisement billboards. The Sindh government should be nominated in FIRs for each and every tree felled.”
The city had turned into a massive garbage dump in the eight-year rule of the PPP, while the municipal management system had been rendered non-functional, and to add insult to injury the citizens had been forced to live without water, he added.
The lawmaker further criticised the removal of provincial anti-corruption establishment’s chairman because he was getting corruption cases registered. He said the provincial National Accountability Bureau had also completely failed in catching corrupt elements.
Apart from grants being provided by Sindh government to different healthcare institutions and the foreign funding they had been receiving, there was nothing worthwhile in the entire budgetary allocation of the health department.
He also lamented the absence of a development scheme for the provincial environment department. “It seems the provincial minister and secretary of the environment department were on their posts to only undertake foreign tours.”
Speaking of allocation of millions of rupees for government school buildings, he said not a penny was spent on securing the schools as per the security plan devised for educational institutions following the Peshawar school attack.
He expressed optimism in response to speeches earlier made by treasury lawmakers in reference to an Urdu-speaking serving as the chief minister for the province after the next general election, in 2018.
Earlier in his speech, Sindh Senior Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said for the people of Sindh their land was like their mother, and those devising its break up could not be true sons of soil.
He recalled that recently the assembly had unanimously adopted three resolutions against any movement or plan to divide Sindh so no speeches regarding the unity and integrity should be heard in the house.
He said the Sindh govt itself had several complaints regarding its due share in the federal divisible pool but it never spoke or did anything which would harm the integrity and unity of Pakistan.
Khuhro stated that a sense of deprivation among the residents of urban and rural areas may exist but it should not result in demands of dividing the province.