Pro-development budgets

Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces came up with promising allocations for development in their provincial budgets. Both proposed raise in the salary of civil servants, as well as ad hoc relief and disparity allowance provisions, in an attempt to ward off the pestering inflation in the country. While Sindh envisaged no new taxes in the Rs1.7 trillion outlay, its thrust this year is on the education with a staggering 25% allocation. Whereas, K-P’s Rs1.33 trillion budget is 19% higher than previous year’s and encompasses Rs185 billion and Rs20 billion for settled and merged areas, respectively. But Sindh, which houses Pakistan’s revenue house, Karachi, has listed a deficit of Rs33.8 billion.

Sindh has come up with smart measures to bring full circle underlying 4,158 developmental schemes, including 2,506 ongoing and 1,652 new ones with an allocation of Rs332.165 billion. This amount is equal to the provincial deficit, and the government has tapped private entrepreneurs by offering them sales tax concessions, and levied no new burden on cable operators and real estate businesses. Education will receive Rs326.80 billion, which is over 25% of total budget outlay, whereas the health sector has been pitched with Rs230.3 billion.

K-P’s decision to regularise more than 63,000 employees will have dividends on the political front. While the PTI-led KP is seeing its 7th consecutive pro-development budget, Rs4 billion have been earmarked for solarisation projects for over 11,000 mosques, along with a 16% pay raise and 15% enhancement in pensions. The Annual Development Programme comprises 2,239 projects, including 1,710 ongoing and 529 new projects. To harness economic activity, Rs418 billion will go towards development, besides promoting transportation networks and encouraging vehicle leasing policy.

K-P’s top-up package in the budget of PTI’s flagship Sehat Card Plus Scheme puts itself above Sindh, and this is where the southern province must buckle up. Sindh’s failure to join the bandwagon on universal free health provision is questionable, and must surpass political impediments. K-P’s broadening of the Sehat facility for the treatment of bone marrow transplant, multiple sclerosis, cochlear implants, thalassemia and advanced cancer at a cost of Rs2.5 billion is most welcome. The ability of both K-P and Sindh to sail through their contested budget session, unlike Punjab, is a leap forward.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2022.

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