Opposition members decried rampant corruption in Sindh province as the Sindh Assembly continued general debate on budget on Wednesday.
As many as nine members belonging to the treasury and opposition benches took part in the general debate. Syed Serfaraz Hussain Shah of the PPPP said the budget was people-friendly. “Law and order has improved. There is need to give more focus on education sector,” he commented.
Skandar Mandhro of the PPPP said that budgetary funds were trust of the people. “We have achieved revenue collection target. Efforts are being made to develop the coastal areas.”
Nand Kumar of the PML-F said they would oppose the demands of division of Sindh province. “Budget is failure of the Sindh government. Last year they could not spend even half of the development funds. Every sector in Sindh province is marred with corruption and people of Sindh are thankful to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for taking action against corrupt elements in the province.”
Manzoor Hussain Wassan of the PPPP said the government was serving the people of Sindh. “The demand for division of Sindh is not tolerable. It seems it is conspiracy of RAW,” he apprehended.
“Opposition is criticising the government without any reason. We are serving people of Sindh. Many projects have been started in transport sector,” said Mumtaz Hussain of the ruling party in Sindh. He said no one could dare to divide Sindh. The project of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) was part of the CPEC, but later it was replaced by the Orange train project of Lahore, he said. However, the Sindh government was still committed to the KCR, he pledged.
Gayan Chand of the PPPP said: “We have surpassed the tax collection target. The budget for minorities has been increased by 200 per cent. Many projects are have been started for welfare of minorities.”
From opposition side, Muhammad Hussain Khan said that like previous budget of the PPP government this budget also had disappointed the people of Sindh. “Rulers are giving step-motherly treatment to the people of urban areas. Karachi is badly neglected. If grievances of urban people are resolved, there would be no need for demand of separate province.” He regretted that the Sindh government had failed to allocate a single rupee for the vital project of Karachi Circular Railway (KCR). He said whole Sindh province was made a heap of garbage and diseases were on the rise. He said even basic facilities of water and electricity were not provided to the people of Sindh. Hunger, poverty, joblessness and deprivation are on the rise due to apathy and corruption of the sitting rulers, he alleged.
Jam Khan Shoro of the PPPP said that the target of tax recovery had already been achieved. “Opposition did not give any shadow budget. More funds are needed for education. A number of other projects have been launched to developed civic infrastructure in Karachi. Division of Sindh is not acceptable.” He blamed the MQM for recruiting their workers in KMC and KWSB on political basis and thus damaging both these institutions with over-recruitment. He said still many government lands were occupied by the sector offices of a political party of Karachi but the Sindh government was determined to vacate these lands from political encroachments.
Mehtab Hussain Dahar of the PPPP said that opposition members delivered political speeches but they did not talk on the budget. “Past rulers harmed the health sector but I have initiated many reforms and started new development projects in his department,” he said
Leader of the opposition Khawaja Izharul Hassan regretted the murder of Amjad Sabri Qawal and requested the speaker to adjourn the house. Later, the speaker adjourned the House till Thursday at 10:00am.
