KARACHI: Ripples of discontent created by the sarcasm employed by two treasury members remained short-lived and did not lead to much hullabaloo in the Sindh Assembly, where on Tuesday 13 lawmakers from either side of the aisle discussed the budget presented by the provincial government for the remaining nine months of the current fiscal year — from Oct 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019.

Presided over by Speaker Siraj Durrani, the debate on the budget in the provincial legislature entered its second of the scheduled five days in which seven members from the opposition and six from the government took part.

Nida Nisar Khuhro of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party in her maiden speech in the assembly said: “The development budget of Sindh, which contributes most to the national kitty, has been curtailed by the federal government, which itself is walking on crutches.”

PTI lawmakers’ mikes switched off after debutant Nida Khuhro’s attack on the PM

She added: “It is possible that one day Imran Khan may stage a sit-in against his own government.”

Her remarks provoked noise from the opposition benches, in particular from lawmakers affiliated with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, who tried to interrupt her by hurling comments that could hardly be heard as their mikes were turned off.

Ms Khuhro said the people of the province did not care about criticism, but they did about results. “Despite limited resources, and the federal government’s short-sightedness and bias, our government spearheaded by Chief Minister Murad Shah, did not stop moving and performed to the full [extent] possible.”

She said the PPP’s Sindh government had chiefly focused on the social sector and offered positive results that silenced even its worst critics.

Sadia Javed, also from the treasury benches, also criticised the two major opposition parties — the PTI and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan.

Referring to a PTI lawmaker who earned unwanted publicity for a video showing him slapping a man, Ms Javed said: “We are afraid that this honourable member may slap anyone in this house and return here by paying Rs3.5 million.”

She said the same member had told a tale in his speech on Monday about a little girl in Thar suffering from meningitis, “but this member is not responding to the call from (the family of) that girl who has arrived in Karachi for treatment”.

She said a party had ruled Karachi for decades where it had absolute control. “They,” she continued referring to the same opposition party, “would always rig elections, but this time round they do not know what had really happened to themselves.”

Opposition’s protest

Her remarks again woke up the opposition members; even those who stayed in the lobby outside the hall for a while rushed back inside.

A number of opposition members rose and protested against her remarks. They made counter-allegations directed towards the treasury benches. However, the chair managed to pacify the house.

MQM’s Rana Ansar questioned the safe city project where she said babies were being snatched from women by gunmen riding motorcycles.

“Where are the billions [of rupees] which have been dedicated for peace in Sindh? Where is peace?” she remarked.

She said peace was such a rare commodity in the province that 37 government vehicles had been commandeered over the past few months. “It needs effort to bring about peace and not just writing on budget books.” Ms Ansar said Hyderabad had been ignored in the government’s development plan for the past 11 years.

Minister for Mines and Mineral Development Shabbir Bijarani said Sindh was forced to slash its development budget because of a huge shortfall in federal government transfers.

Omar Omari of the PTI said the budget was wonderful as far as it was presented on paper while the ground realities were totally different and not as pleasing.

Grand Democratic Alliance’s Waryam Faqir said Sindh was burdened with a sea of debts and remarked: “Develop Sindh instead of Dubai.”

PPP’s Surendar Valasai said it was a public-friendly budget in which people’s needs were kept in mind. He termed the government’s initiative in the health sector as commendable, particularly the expansion of the NICVD to many rural districts.

Abdul Rasheed of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal said the government had installed five reverse osmosis plants in Lyari, though he was not aware of their whereabouts.

He said Sindh was being given less than its share in the National Finance Commission Award while its capital Karachi was not getting its due share from the provincial pool.

PPP’s Tanzeela Sheedi said the PPP was the only party which recognised the Sheedi community — people with African ancestry — living in Sindh for centuries. She said an opposition lawmaker had “ridiculed” the Quaid-i-Azam for which “he should offer unconditional public apology”.

She praised the Sindh government’s coastal highway project, adding that it would help protect the coastal areas from the menace of sea erosion.

MQM-P’s Jawed Hanif said the government should involve experts and other stakeholders, including lawmakers of the opposition parties, in budget making.

He said the budget process should start much earlier than it usually did. He said the government’s performance indicators should also be reflected in the budget documents.

Sukkur Barrage issue

Farrukh Shah of the PPP said the Sukkur Barrage was a vital issue, which should be reconstructed. He added that the barrage had already served 37 years more than its expiry date. Mr Shah said canal lining was required from the Guddu Barrage to the Sukkur Barrage.

He said the PPP had established five universities in Sukkur district alone challenging the PTI members to show how many such institutions had been built in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where their party had again come to power.

PTI’s Diwan Sachanand said funds given to the ministry of minorities affairs be utilised wisely for the betterment of the people belonging to the minority faiths.

GDA’s Moazzam Abbasi said the opposition parties, by submitting a resolution against the Kalabagh dam project, had restricted those who, otherwise, would have exploited the issue for their vested interests.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2018