Setting up basic infrastructure acts as catalyst for investment, says chief minister

One of the important initiatives of a government is establishing basic infrastructure across the country that acts as a catalyst for domestic and foreign investments, said Sindh’s chief minister on Saturday.

Syed Murad Ali Shah was giving a pictorial presentation to Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in a special programme organised at the CM House.

Murad said the development sector generates employment opportunities, rotates capital in the economy and creates development activities, adding that the policymakers always attach priority to the development sector. The special programme was also attended by former CM Syed Qaim Ali Shah, provincial ministers, the planning & development chairman, the current chief executive’s principal secretary, senior journalists and anchorpersons. The details of the presentation are as follows:

Education

Budgetary provisions for this sector were raised from Rs120.502386 billion for 2013-14 to Rs205.019621 billion for 2018-19, a 71 per cent increase. Twenty thousand new posts were created during the past five years.

More than Rs23.87 million was utilised for the maintenance and repair of schools and colleges. During the past five years, funds for maintenance and repair were raised from Rs4.38 million for 2013-14 to Rs5.625 million for 2017-18, a 28.4 per cent increase.

The Sindh Education Foundation’s budget was raised from Rs2.215 billion to Rs9.593 billion, while grants-in-aid for universities remained at Rs5 billion throughout the years. The budget for education management organisations was raised from Rs200 million to Rs1 billion, and funds for the provision of free textbooks were increased from Rs1.4 billion to Rs2.1 billion.

Funds for free registration of students in the boards were raised from Rs1 billion to Rs2 billion during the past two years, while 28 degree colleges and 50 schools with comprehensive and Cambridge systems were established throughout the province.  

Health

Budgetary provisions for this sector were raised from Rs36.400538 billion for 2013-14 to Rs99.537270 billion for 2018-19, a 174 per cent increase. Thirty-eight thousand and ten new posts were created during the past five years.

The maintenance and repair budget of health facilities was raised from Rs256 million for 2013-14 to Rs1.28 billion for 2018-19, a 500 per cent increase. The National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases’ grant was raised from Rs400 million to Rs8.87 billion, the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation’s from Rs2 billion to Rs5.6 billion, the People’s Primary Healthcare Initiative’s from Rs2.26 billion to Rs5.84 billion.

The Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences’ grant was increased from Rs500 million to Rs2 billion and the Abdullah Shah Institute of Medical Sciences’ from Rs100 million to Rs1.25 billion. The management of health facilities became more effective through private partners, while the Accelerated Action Plan’s allocation was raised from Rs2.4 billion for 2017-18 to Rs5.1 billion for 2018-19.  

Law and order

Budgetary provisions for this sector were raised from Rs54.429334 billion for 2013-14 to Rs113.640708 billion for 2018-19, a 109 per cent increase. Forty-eight thousand, nine hundred and forty-four new posts were created in the Sindh police department during the past five years.

For the maintenance and repair of police offices and buildings Rs2.339 billion was spent during the past five years, while the Special Security Unit was strengthened with an investment of Rs672.672 million to Rs2.175 billion and then Rs8.785 billion for the procurement of arms and ammunition.

For operational vehicles Rs10.388 billion was provided between 2013-14 and 2017-18, while Rs513.38 million for 2016-17 and Rs172.134 million for 2017-18 were provided for capacity building and training of police personnel.

To strengthen the jails’ security 1,923 officials were hired and 14 anti-terrorism special courts were established with Rs7.539 billion for 2017-18. A provincial human rights department was also set up with an allocation of Rs58.094 million for 2017-18.  

Irrigation

The budget for this sector was raised from Rs14.36 billion for 2013-14 to Rs22.74 billion for 2018-19, a 58 per cent increase. Two thousand, six hundred and one lower-grade officials were hired in the past five years.

During 2016-17 contingent and work charge basis staff of the Left Bank Outfall Drain drainage divisions of Badin, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar and Shaheed Benazirabad were regularised.  

Energy

The budget for this sector was raised from Rs305.671 million for 2013-14 to Rs23.88 billion for 2018-19, a 77.14 per cent increase. Twenty billion rupees was allocated for 2018-19 to clear the power liabilities of the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company and the Sukkur Electric Power Company.

Three billion rupees was earmarked for captive power plants’ subsidy, Rs128.12 million for the Thar Coal Energy Board’s grant-in-aid, Rs100 million for the Sindh Coal Authority’s grant-in-aid, Rs50 million for the Sindh Energy Holding Company’s seed money for onward release to the Sindh Transmission & Dispatch Company.  

Women development

The budget for this sector was raised from Rs64.522 million for 2013-14 to Rs433.96 million for 2017-18, a 700 per cent increase. For a day care centre in Karachi and six women complaint cells Rs16.571 million was allocated.

For the provision of legal aid to poor women and children in distress Rs135 million were earmarked, while Rs100 million for the endowment fund for rehabilitation and compensation for victims of acid crimes.

For the establishment of the Sindh Commission on the Status of Women Rs19.96 million was provided in 2017-18, while Rs100 million for the Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai Complex Islamabad.  

Social welfare

The budget for this sector was raised from Rs937.345 million for 2013-14 to Rs1.6 billion for 2017-18, a 71 per cent increase. Thirty-four million rupees was provided as dietary charges for 18 rehabilitation centres.

Thirty-six million rupees was provided to the Pakistan Sweet Home as grant-in-aid, Rs33.014 million to the Pakistan Sweet Home for the installation of a solar system and for the purchase of four vehicles for the pick-and-drop facility for children.

For establishing a community development office for transgender persons in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur Rs10.54 million were provided, while Rs200 million for the Child Protection Authority.  

Minorities

The budget for this sector was raised from Rs175.6 million for 2013-14 to Rs848.324 million for 2018-l9, a 383 per cent increase. The Sindh government formulated the Hindu Marriage Act 2016, and the Hindu Marriage Rules 2017 has also been approved.

The provincial administration is considering the Hindu Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2018 to improve access of all Hindu community members to legal assistance. The government has also established five Regional offices at divisional level.  

Public health engineering

The budget for this sector was raised from Rs1.09 billion for 2013-14 to Rs7.03 billion for 2018-19, a 543 per cent increase. The major provisions proposed for 2018-19 includes Rs5.02 billion for reverse-osmosis (RO) plants.

The allocation includes rehabilitation of 2,286 RO plants at Rs2.3 billion, operation and maintenance costs for each district at Rs1.2 billion, maintenance of defected plants at Rs385 million and the maintenance and repair of existing RO plants at Rs1.02 billion.  

Major achievements

The allocation for Sindh’s development was substantially increased during the past decade, from Rs89 billion for 2008-09 to Rs244 billion for 2017-18, a 173 per cent increase. Between July 2008 and June 2017, 2,949 development schemes were completed, while 714 more will be completed by the end of next month.

Since 2015-16 the fund releases policy has been linked with the performance of utilisation, and during 2016-17 the volume of releases was increased up to Rs209 billion against that of Rs148 billion during 2015-16, a 42 per cent increase.

During 2013-14 the total expenditure was Rs107 billion under the provincial and district Annual Development Plan. During 2016-17 the provincial government’s development expenditure was Rs194 billion, an 81 per cent increase from that of Rs109 billion during 2013-14.