KARACHI: In its Rs800 billion public sector development programme (PSDP) for the next financial year, the federal government has proposed a mere Rs12.05bn allocation for Sindh’s 25 new and ongoing schemes.

Terming it an injustice with Sindh, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that the proposed meagre allocation was against the commitment and announcement of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

He was chairing a high-level meeting to review the new PSDP-2016-17 of the federal government on Monday.

Senior Minister for Finance Murad Ali Shah informed the CM that the federal government finalised Rs800bn PSDP for the next financial year and it had included only 25 schemes being executed by the Sindh government in the PSDP and proposed an allocation of Rs12.05bn.

He told the meeting that out of 180 new schemes in the federal government’s PSDP, only 11 were Sindh-based for which an allocation of Rs6.5bn, out of Rs120.77bn, had been proposed, which constituted six per cent of the total amount.

Expressing his dismay, the CM urged the federal government to enhance the allocation for some important schemes.

About the Rs25.55bn K-IV water supply project for Karachi, the CM said that the federal government allocated only Rs500 million and the allocation needed to be increased to Rs5.3bn so that the project could be completed in two years.

He said that six new schemes of Sindh be included in the next PSDP with an adequate allocation.

The schemes are Indus Highway-Jamshoro Sehwan dual carriageway; Sukkur Barrage rehabilitation project; upgrade of flood infrastructure; short-term mitigation and preparedness measures to counter sea intrusion; planting of 2m trees to combat climate change effect in Sindh and lining of KB Feeder Upper Canal for water Supply to Karachi.

He said that the phase two of the Makhi Farash Link Canal project was meant to supply water to Thar to meet the requirement of the Thar coal project. The total cost of the project was Rs10.61bn with equal cost sharing by the federal and provincial governments, he said, adding: “I would urge the federal government to enhance its proposed allocation from Rs50 million to Rs2 billion.”

The CM said that the Sindh government had provided Rs1.922bn as bridge financing for vertical programmes of the provincial health department. “I would urge the federal government to reimburse. Moreover, the federal government has to reimburse Rs842.590 million of Hyderabad package.”

He said that the prime minister had announced rehabilitation of the Guddu Barrage and initiating the motorway from Hyderabad to Sukkur but it appeared that “his announcements have been ignored”.

Additional Chief Secretary Mohammad Wassem informed the CM that the federal government proposed only Rs10m for lining of distributaries and minors. The amount should be enhanced to Rs3bn, he suggested.

He said that a meagre amount of Rs1bn had been kept as the normal annual development programme (emergent flood scheme) whereas Sindh had submitted many important schemes costing more than Rs16bn.

The chief minister said that this allocation had been kept for the whole country and it should be enhanced to Rs10bn. “I had discussed this requirement with the prime minister but I don’t know why a meagre amount has been proposed.”

Mr Waseem told the CM that the share of the Sindh government in the PSDP for vertical programmes going on in the province came to Rs3.93bn against which only Rs1.76bn was released. The vertical programmes, include expanded programme on immunisation, prevention and control of influenza; prevention & control of blindness; hepatitis, TB Control programme, malaria and others, he added.

The meeting was also attended Principal Secretary to the CM Alamuddin Bullo, Finance Secretary Sohail Rajput and others.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2016