KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who also holds the portfolio of provincial finance minister, unveiled a Rs1.477 trillion “tax-free” budget for the next fiscal year 2021-22 here amid protest by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led opposition in the Sindh Assembly.
The development expenditure of the province is estimated at Rs329.032 billion, while total receipts of province for financial year 2021-22 are Rs1.452 trillion.
Of the Rs329.032 billion in development expenditure of the province, Rs222.5 billion has been set aside for provincial ADP and Rs30 billion for districts ADP, foreign project assistance of Rs71.16 billion and Rs5.4 billion from federal PSDP grant for schemes being executed by government of Sindh.
Shah said for the next financial year, the budget for the education sector was raised to Rs277.5 billion — a 13.5 per cent increase — he added, claiming the provincial government has allocated the “highest percentage of resources towards education in the year 2021-22”.
“The increase in allocation is because of the salary component, but here I will like to present that the increase in non-salary allocation of education sector is much higher and has been increasing over the years,” he clarified. Shah said for the next financial year, an allocation of Rs172 billion for the health sector was proposed in the budget. After the advent of Covid-19, the government re-prioritised its allocation and earmarked maximum resources in 2020-21 for prevention, isolation, and treatment for Covid-19, he added.
The provincial Home Department has been allocated Rs119.97 billion, an increase of 5.4 per cent over the previous year. “The scrupulous maintenance and enforcement of law and order are the prerequisites of all progress,” Shah said.
The Sindh government also proposed increasing the minimum wage rate from Rs17,500 to Rs25,000 per month for the next fiscal year. The move was decided “for the welfare of the labour class and in line with increase in pay of the government employees”.
Shah also said the basic salary of all government employees would be increased by 20 per cent. The provincial government also proposed a personal allowance for government employees in BPS-01 to BPS-05. Moreover, 10 per cent increase in pension has also been proposed.