Sindh budget focuses only on development of rural areas, allege MQM-P MPAs

The general debate on the Sindh government's budget for the upcoming fiscal year continued for the fourth consecutive day in the Sindh Assembly on Thursday with participation from several treasury and opposition lawmakers.

The opposition MPAs who took part in the discussion complained that an overwhelming majority of the proposed uplift schemes in the Sindh budget only served rural parts of the province and ignored the development of urban Sindh.

As the session began under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker Anthony Naveed, attendance from both treasury and opposition benches was notably low, highlighting the apparent lack of interest among members of the House in the budget proceedings.

MPA from Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Rehan Akram criticised the 17th budget of the Pakistan Peoples Party's Sindh government claiming that 90 per cent of development schemes were again announced for the rural Sindh. He also raised concerns over water and sewerage issues in his constituency.

MQM-P legislator Muhammad Daniyal said that suggestions made by the opposition legislators during the pre-budget session were ignored and criticised the years-long rule of the same chief minister in the province. He lamented the condition of Karachi’s Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and the water crisis in the city.

Another MQM-P lawmaker, Dr Fauzia Hameed, declared the budget a ‘blueprint for Sindh’s ruin’, claiming that it only benefited a few families and not the public. She demanded a complete restructuring of the budget to reflect the people’s aspirations. She also questioned why the incumbent Sindh CM had retained so many portfolios of the provincial cabinet.

MQM-P’s Mahesh Kumar criticised the absence of viable schemes for the religious minorities in the budget and demanded interest-free loans to empower his community. Najm Mirza of the MQM-P remarked that the proposed budget was deceptive and out of touch with reality.

The Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Fayaz Butt commended the party leadership and CM for presenting a people-friendly budget despite limited resources. He highlighted the resettlement of 2.1 million flood victims in Sindh was a major achievement of the incumbent PPP regime in Sindh.

Sindh Labour Minister Shahid Thahim said PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari would be the future prime minister. He criticised power distribution companies for worsening load-shedding in the rural Sindh and highlighted the lack of gas in Shahdadpur despite the local discovery of the natural resource.

Giyanchand Essrani from the treasury benches said the PPP alone safeguarded the minorities’ rights, having established a dedicated minorities department with numerous development schemes.

He denounced India’s Modi government for hatching heinous conspiracies against Pakistan. He also urged the Sindh government to upgrade the Thana Bula Khan hospital. Sindh Women Development Minister Shaheena Sher Ali announced completion of women complexes in Sukkur and Karachi this year, creation of complaint centres in all districts and micro-loans for women entrepreneurs.

PPP MPA Ismail Rahu accused the opposition of undemocratic behaviour in the House and condemned calls for Sindh’s division. Jamil Soomro of the PPP praised the CM and his team for a well-crafted budget, asserting that the opposition always labelled budgets as anti-people even when taxes were withdrawn. He listed several of the PPP’s achievements and criticised the MQM-P and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

Public Health Engineering Adviser Saleem Baloch lauded the new provincial budget, stating that 34 new water supply projects had been included in the budget on the PPP chairman’s directive in addition to 29 such schemes completed last year.