Sindh Assembly Session. PHOTO: NNI
Voices for creating a separate province for urban dwellers of the province were again heard in the house at the fag-end of the budget debate, as Opposition Leader in the Sindh Assembly Khawaja Izharul Hassan criticised the provincial government for its discriminatory attitude towards urban areas.
“We don’t want to divide Sindh. We only want to get 50% share in jobs and other sectors. If our demands are not fulfilled, then we will start the movement for a new province,” Hassan said, giving his party’s policy statement.
There were the chants of ‘go, corruption go’ and the opposition calling the government as the most ‘corrupt’ in the country’s history.
Thursday’s budget session was dominated by Hassan’s speech who took the floor after Nisar Ahmad Khuhro wound up his address in just 20 minutes. The MQM lawmaker touched issues that largely concerned urban areas of the province, such as sanitation, water scarcity, bad road infrastructure, etc.
He lashed out at the government for failing to solve Karachi’s water woes. He said the PPP claims to have spent roughly Rs1,000 billion on development schemes in the province during the last nine years. However, it could not provide drinking water to the citizens of Karachi, he continued.
Hassan asked: why has the JIT (joint interrogation team) formed to probe the Rs300 billion water scam disbanded?
“The JIT wanted to investigate the matter of illegal hydrants being run under the very nose of the government, but the provincial government created hurdles in its way,” he said, adding the majority of development schemes are only on paper.
Hassan reminded the government that it had allocated billions of rupees to construct 130 small dams to cater for water needs in the province. It seemed bureaucrats and ministers have fudged the figures, he said.
The government claimed to have spent Rs110 billion on education, he said, asking “Are education standards better in Sindh when compared with other provinces or even with Fata?”
He reminded the Sindh government of the ‘Free Education’ bill that was passed by the Sindh Assembly in 2013.
“Why has the government failed to implement this law in the province,” he asked.
Earlier, the Sindh Assembly adopted a resolution, paying rich tributes to renowned Qawwal Amjad Sabri who was gunned down on Wednesday in Karachi.
The resolution was jointly tabled by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Pakistan Peoples Party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2016.
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