Sindh Assembly. PHOTO: FILE
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Dr Sanjay Gangwani, reading a paragraph from the health budget, said, "Despite increasing health's funds, the condition of public hospitals and basic health centres are deteriorating with each passing day. People have been deprived of basic health facilities". He added that the hospitals don't own ambulances and women are forced to give birth in Qinqqi rickshaws.
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Regarding the budget for the security of places for worship of monitories, Gangwani said that the provincial government had earmarked around Rs4 million, but hardly 1% funds have been utilised so far. "There would have been no incidents of attacks, theft or robberies at our worship places, if funds had been utilised," he lamented.
Waryam Faqir of the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), commenting on the royalty on oil and gas found in Sanghar district, said that the conditions of towns and cities adjacent to the gas field were deplorable. He added that none of the governments were paying any attention to the development of its infrastructure. He suggested that the Sindh government conduct research on agriculture seed and give subsidy to growers on fertilisers. "The sugarcane growers are still struggling to get support prices, but no one heeds their concerns," he said.
Lal Chand Ukrani of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) praised the budget and said that the opposition had not read the budget books and were criticising the Sindh government over dictation of people from outside the assembly.
He lauded the services of the health minister who according to him has done a marvellous job. The PPP quoted the example of the National Institute of Cardio Vascular Diseases (NICVD) and other institutes and said, "This kind of development has irked some elements and they are hatching conspiracies for the hand over of provincial health facilities to the federal government". He appreciated the Sindh government for producing 660MWs through Thar coal power project and thus realising the dream of Benazir Bhutto.
Syed Hashim Raza of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) said that the budget was biased and most of the schemes were located in the constituencies of PPP MPAs. He berated the government for its failure to utilise the development budget for the current fiscal year and said, "Rs252 billion were allocated for annual development programme, but hardly Rs90 billion have been spent so far. We want to know why funds were not spent".
Aziz Junejo of the PPP criticised the PTI government for victimising political opponents and said, "NAB [National Accountability Bureau] is only taking action to appease someone". He asked that if NAB indeed operates neutrally, why had it not taken any action against the prime minister's sister, Aleema Khan, and the federal minister, Pervez Khattak, who possess assents beyond their means.
Perveen Bashir Qaimkhani of PPP termed the budget "balanced" and appreciated the PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari for promulgating 18th Amendment and devolving powers to the provincial governments.
Sanjay Perwani of MQM-P demanded that the government implement the minority quota in government jobs.
Rana Hamir Singh of PPP spoke about deaths of children in Thar and suggested that the government induct a large number of lady health workers in every corner. "In many remote areas, the heath facilities are not up to the mark," he remarked.
Sanjeela Leghari, Shazia Javed, Faqeer Sher Mohammad, Jam Owais Jokhio of PPP, Ayesha Khatoon and Basit Siddiqui of MQM-P, Rafique Banghan of GDA, Shaharyar Khan Shar and Rabistan Khan of PTI also spoke on the occasion.
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Appeal for decorum
During the session, the CM asked the treasury and opposition members to maintain decorum in the House. "Please do criticise me and the provincial government, but don't exceed your limits," he said, adding that lawmakers in the National Assembly could not speak on the budget for four days due to the uproar. Sindh Assembly should avoid this practice, he remarked.
CM asked the MPAs to help the government eradicate the polio virus. "Each MPA should lead the anti-virus campaign in their constituencies. We have to get rid of this menace," he said, adding that the PPP's slain leader, Benazir Bhutto, had launched the polio eradication programme in the 90s. And around 306 cases of polio were reported in 2014 in Pakistan. "In 2018, there were a total 12 polio cases in Pakistan of which one was in Sindh. Now, this figure has increased to 24 cases in the entire country of which three are in Sindh," he said, adding that this curse can be eradicated with joint effort and determination.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 20th, 2019.
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