25 June 2004	Friday	06 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, June 24: The provincial government came under severe criticism over law and order and water shortage when the assembly went into afternoon session on Thursday.

The opposition benches, during the ongoing debate on provincial budget, deplored police for showing poor performance and also slammed the government for unfair distribution of resources and shortage of water in Indus river.

They said that the budget was not people-friendly contrary to the government's claim. Members from the treasury benches, however, said that the provincial government had adopted a principled stand on the NFC Award.

Welcoming the budget, they said that the government deserved commendation for addressing all pressing issues in the given situation. Dr Hameeda Khuhro of PML said that Sindh need special grants from President as it had been facing a lot of problems, besides poverty, unemployment and a destroyed infrastructure of agriculture sector.

She spoke of provincial autonomy and rights of Sindh people while appreciating the provincial government's principled stand on NFC Award. Begum Sharfunnisa Leghari of PPP maintained that presenting the budget without a consensus on the NFC Award was failure of the Sindh government.

She pointed out that the budget provided no allocation for women development which was essential to enable the womenfolk to play a vital role in the economic uplift of the province.

Emphasizing the need for proper planning to overcome water shortage, she called for exempting the farmers having up to 25 acres of land from agricultural tax. Muttahida Qaumi Movement's Talib Imam alleged that the opposition was not sincere in resolving people's problems as it had not been presenting any concrete proposals in this regard.

Ms Nasreen Chandio of PPP said that Sindh be given royalty on its oil, gas and coal. Jam Madad Ali of PML said that the government had not resorted to surrender Sindh's rights while negotiation the NFC Award. Criticizing the working of Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA), he said the institution should be given under the Irrigation department.

Ms Ferheen Mughal of PPP described the supply of poisonous water in Hyderabad as "an official conspiracy to punish people for resisting the construction of Kalabagh Dam."

She criticized the government for releasing advertisements to the newspapers whose owners were denying proper wages to their workers, including journalists.

Mr Younus Barai of MMA condemned the increase of Rs3 billion in the allocation for police despite the department's poor performance in maintaining law and order.

Mr Barai was on his feet when Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah adjourned the day's proceedings at 5:30pm. The house would resume the debate on Friday.