KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Sunday that the provincial government is facing a shortfall of Rs59 billion in the federal transfers, therefore, it slashed its annual development programme (ADP) by Rs50 billion.
This he said while delivering his concluding budget speech on the floor of the house.
Talking about budget speeches delivered by the members, the CM said that the participation ratio of members of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) speaking on the budget was the lowest, as opposed to other parties who were given more opportunities. “PTI has 29 members of which 20 spoke, Mutahidda Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has 21 of the 16 spoke, Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) has 13 members, of which 12 spoke,” he said.
“Overall 36 hours budget speeches were delivered which is unprecedented in other assemblies,” he said.
He said that he had presented a budget in May 2018-19 and again, the adopted the budget with some changes.
He said that some old schemes of 2003 are also in the budget book. “We have made a new policy under which 80 per cent funds have been allocated for ongoing schemes,” he said and added, “When we had taken over in 2008, the roads leading to Thar, Sanghar and Mirpurkhas were dilapidated and now we have reconstructed them.”
The chief minister said that 90 per cent ongoing development schemes have been given 100 per cent allocation so that they could be completed. “We are going to complete our 956 ongoing schemes and had completed 700 development schemes last year,” he said.
He said that 26 new schemes had been included in new ADP, of them some are those which had been launched with the financial assistance of the donor agencies.
The chief minister said that village gasification, one medical college scheme and the coastal highway had been included in the new ADP. “We want to save Indus Delta and stop sea intrusion by constructing 87km Sindh Coastal Highway,” he said.
The chief minister said that water supply and drainage schemes had been launched in urban areas of Sindh. These schemes are in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur, and Hyderabad. He added that Water Commission was also working on water supply and drainage schemes and those commitments had also been made in the election manifesto of PPP.
Replying to a point raised by opposition leader in Sindh Assembly, the chief minister said that the canal lining is most important in order to stop seepage and wastage of irrigation water. He added that the canal lining funds were used in six weeks because the canal lining work was carried out during six weeks period of canal closures.
The chief minister said that in 2016, FBR took out Rs6.7 billion from the account of the provincial government as saying that 1.4 million vehicles were registered by excise department. He added that the matter was taken up with the State Bank of Pakistan which stopped at source deduction.
Talking about national economy, he said that during the last three months, Sindh economy had shown a 4.3 per cent growth. He said that in 2016-17 and 2017-18, there was 31 per cent growth. “The federal government gives around 78 per cent financial resources to Sindh,” he said and added: “We are increasing and improving our own resources.”
The chief minister said that his government had given special focus on improving primary health care. He added that the health reforms had shown commendable improvements. “We have reduced child and mother mortality rates while stunting has also come down to 9 per cent during the last five years, which is a success story,” he said.
He said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) victory in Karachi was a temporary benefit –“in the next general election, PPP would emerge as largest party in Karachi as “our roots in the city and relationship with the people of the city are strengthening,” he said and added that the reason was being best service and commitment with the city and the people.