People helped PPP win LG, mayoral polls: CM

Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah emphasised the Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) consistent success was possible with the support and trust of the people.

Speaking on the floor of the provincial assembly on Saturday while concluding the debate on the budget 2023-24, he highlighted the recent municipal elections in which the people of Sindh reaffirmed their trust in the PPP.

"Karachi has been a stronghold of the Bhutto family in the past, and it continues to be so. The budget has allocated funds for the development of the entire Sindh, including Karachi. We also urge the federal government to grant us our rightful share," CM Shah added.

He touted Bilawal Bhutto as a potential future prime minister and emphasised the need for unity and progress throughout the province. "We must collectively work towards the advancement of Sindh and Pakistan," he stated.

CM Shah provided an overview of the Sindh government's financial accomplishments, revealing that they had collected Rs5 trillion over the past five years. Out of this, Rs2.6 trillion was allocated to salaries, retirement benefits, and pensions of government employees. Additionally, Rs442 billion was spent on non-development expenditures of the local government, while Rs909 billion was allocated to education, including Rs48.9 billion in grants to universities.

During this period, the Sindh government received Rs3.8 trillion from the federal government, with provincial revenues amounting to Rs1.2 trillion. The CM highlighted that Rs840 billion had been dedicated to development projects in the last five years. To ensure adequate funding for these initiatives, foreign loans were necessary.

CM Shah discussed the K-IV project, a 260mgd initiative launched at a cost of Rs29.5 billion, which experienced cost escalation to Rs42 billion due to the exclusion of essential components. He expressed his efforts to secure additional water for Karachi through the Council of Common Interests (CCI), despite the federal government's refusal. The project has been submitted to ECNEC for approval, and the provincial energy department has initiated the installation of a 50 MW power plant for K-IV.

In the previous fiscal year, CM Shah wrote a letter to PM Shehbaz expressing concerns over the lack of schemes allocated to Sindh in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). Following the letter, seven schemes were announced for Sindh with an allocation of Rs900 million, but no funds were released. In the new budget for the fiscal year 2023-24, the Sindh government's size in the federal PSDP was increased from Rs4 billion to Rs22.9 billion.

Regarding the housing scheme worth Rs660 billion, the federal government pledged Rs25 billion. CM Shah proposed two schemes to the prime minister: KB Feeder and the repair of damaged school buildings worth Rs12 billion.

CM Shah delved into the history of Karachi, mentioning that it was a small village in Sindh until Baloch travelers from Makran and Kalat settled there in 1725. He highlighted the role of the Talpur rulers, who allowed the East India Company to establish its office in Karachi, only to revoke the permission two years later.

Emphasising the provincial government's contributions to Karachi's development, CM Shah stated that the city flourished due to investments made by the provincial government. He also expressed his disappointment with the MQM-P's tone in the assembly, which he considered deplorable and perceived as a threat to the provincial government.

CM Shah expressed gratitude to the MPAs, MNAs, Pak Army, Navy, Rangers, Maritime, and provincial departments, including Police and PDMA, for their dedicated efforts during the recent cyclone to protect the people. He announced assistance for the affected individuals and cited rainfall figures for various areas.

"In 2017, I highlighted anomalies in the population census, but the CCI approved it with five per cent validation in 2018. In 2020, the matter again came up for discussion in the CCI and I gave a dissenting note," he said, adding that only the PPP had taken it up in the parliament.

CM Shah said that when he was contesting the federal government for making the census transparent, one of the MQM-P leaders addressed a press conference and said that the MQM-P was ready to conduct the census by establishing camps to facilitate the people.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2023.