JI emir asks federal govt to reconsider budget

Rejecting the federal budget 2020-21, the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan (JI) emir, Senator Sirajul Haq, has said that the budget is according to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) policy and all the measures that could provide relief to segments of society have been ignored.

He expressed these views on Sunday as he addressed a press conference at the Idara Noor-e-Haq, the JI Karachi secretariat. He said the budget did not take into account ground realities and before preparing it, the government did not bother to consult the opposition, business community and trade unions for their respective input.

“The government did not consider the National Finance Award, no relief is seen for the poor segments of the country. The government employees are ignored and above all, the financial bill entirely reflects the aspirations of the IMF,” Haq said.

The JI emir said the allocation for the education sector had been curtailed while around 3.1 million seminary students were also not considered in the budget. “The World Bank and IMF never bother for the development of countries. It is the responsibility of rulers to take courageous measures in this direction,” he asserted.

He stated that no scheme was included in the budget for the tribal areas and overseas Pakistanis while the allocations for Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan had also been curtailed.

The government should reconsider the budget as the JI was in consultations with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl for taking a unified line of action, Haq said. Criticising the federal and provincial governments, and the National Disaster Management Authority for their unsatisfactory performance during the COVID-19 crisis, the JI emir said that they all had failed to provide facilities to the COVID-19 patients and health workers.

He said the government has itself claimed that around 170 million people have become jobless, and lamented that no programme was put in place for those unemployed people in the budget.

Haq demanded that the hospitals in Karachi be upgraded and provided with at least 3,000 additional beds along with oxygen cylinders and other facilities. He also advised the government to think over doing legislation on the plasma transfer treatment for patients infected with the novel coronavirus.

He announced that the alKhidmat Foundation, the party’s charity wing, was intending to set up a plasma bank and it needed the government’s assistance in this direction. He also pointed out that on the issue of COVID-19 emergency, the federal and provincial governments were not on one page and had diversified opinions.

“Inflation is on the rise, growth rate showing a declining trend, per capita income shrinking and country’s economic situation passing through difficult phases while the Pakistan Steel Mills’ more-than-9,000 retrenched employees and pensioners are in mental agony for their dues,” he remarked.

The JI emir added that in the meantime, no action was taken on the government level in the Centre and provinces to combat the danger of locust attacks threatening the agriculture economy of the country.

He termed the national budget a jugglery of numbers and said that it would cause an economic blow in days to come. Haq also demanded that the status of megacity status be given to Karachi and all the basic facilities be provided to people everywhere in the country.

JI Naib Emir Dr Mairajul Huda, Karachi Emir Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman, Karachi Naib Emir Dr Osama Razi, Member of Sindh Assembly Abdul Rasheed and Information Secretary Zahid Askari were also present during the press conference.

Meanwhile, Haq visited a private hospital and inquired about the health of former JI ameer Syed Munawar Hassan. The JI ameer prayed for the early recovery of Hassan and got details on his treatment.

On the occasion, Haq said that Hassan had spent his entire life in the service of Islam. He was a role model not only for the Tehreek Islami but all the movements making efforts for the dominance of Islam in the world. The JI chief added that Hassan had played a significant role in the struggle for the dominance of Islam since his student life.