Sindh budget 2010-11 unveiled

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah presented a 422 billion rupees budget for Sindh in the provincial assembly on Friday.

Qaim Ali Shah stated that the Sindh Government achieved a breakthrough in the NFC awards with the inclusion of revenue generation and the provinces right to collect sales tax on services. He said that the government passed the law to create a Sindh revenue board to collect sales tax on services and that this empowerment would help the province in developing autonomy.

The Sindh CM presented the achievements of the Sindh government and said that the government distributed 43,000 acres of land to 4000 beneficiaries. He said that under the Union Council poverty reduction program, small loans were given to 40,000 women and 200,000 houses were completed for the poor. He told the assembly that a health insurance program for the poorest of the poor had been developed, and the program is being expanded to eight more districts.

Regarding the law and order situation in Sindh, the CM said that the government had succeeded in maintaining law and order across Sindh, especially in Karachi. He said that the security agencies had developed a comprehensive strategy and achieved their targets through crackdowns. He said overall crime had decreased by 64%, mobile snatching had decrease by 45%, a 27% decrease in kidnapping and 128 terrorists had been arrested by the Sindh police.

Qaim Ali Shah said that the police budget has been increased by more than 65% from 2007 to 2010 and an additional Rs 1.7 billion has been allocated for mobility of forces, arms and CCTV cameras. He said that the government is looking to improve the conditions in jails, and Rs 200 million has been allocated for prisoners who can not afford lawyers.

He said that the government supported 150,000 people last year and the figure will double by June.

Regarding the Benazir Youth Program, he said that 27% of the youth who received training under the program became self employed. He also mentioned the allocation of 53,500 jobs on the basis of merit.

The CM informed the house that the government spent Rs5.2 billion on the provision of electricity and gas and Rs 15 billion was spent on all pro-poor programs.

He said that the government had set up plans to enhance the development work of Karachi and that Rs 16 billion has been allocated under different schemes. Rs 2 billion was spent on construction of flyovers and roads in Karachi and the government is working on the Karachi circular railway with the assistance of Japanese government, he said.

He said there are also plans of developing a road link from National Highway to Super Highway and from Malir to Super Highway.

He said that projects worth Rs 871 million were completed in Lyari, and that the government has allocated Rs 1300 million under packages for the rural areas of Karachi.

Under the Hyderabad package, he stated that 31 schemes costing Rs 3.8 billion were completed, these schemes included the construction of roads, water supply and sanitation. He said that Rs 1 billion has been allocated for Hyderabad in the current budget.

He said that 22 schemes costing Rs 4.6 billion were completed in Larkana, and that Rs 1.2 billion has been allocated for the current budget.