KARACHI: Sindh PA approves all 54 demands for grant
By Habib Khan Ghori
KARACHI, June 25: The Sindh Assembly on Monday approved all 54 demands for grant on supplementary budget for the year 2006-07 rejecting 360 cut motions submitted by 21 opposition members.
The house also held a one-hour discussion on the expenditure as under article 121 of the Constitution, it did not require voting and would stand adopted after discussion.
Leader of Opposition Nisar Ahmad Khuhro and Shazia Marri expressed concern over the threat to Sindh’s coastal areas from the cyclone and suggested that the discussion on the demand for grants be adjourned till Tuesday. Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah said that weather conditions demanded the ongoing discussion cut short.
The speaker invited movers of cut motions on demand No-1 and He asked Senior Minister Syed Sardar Ahmad to put the demand to vote. However, it was rejected by voice vote.
When the speaker was about to apply guillotine, he was opposed by Murad Ali Shah, Shazia Marri, Nisar Khuhro and others. The speaker referred to the Rule 126 (2) empowering a Speaker to put before the assembly all motions for consideration and voting at a time.
The senior minister clubbing together all demand for grants from the demand No. 2 to 54 put them to vote. All the demands were granted by voice vote and the revised budget for the year 2006-07 was passed.
During the discussion on cut motions, Minister Mohammad Hussain, who came after attending an emergency meeting at the Governor’s House, informed the assembly that the Met office and a foreign channel had forecast a cyclone developing off Karachi coast and might hit the Sindh coastline by midnight.
Earlier, Syed Sardar Ahmed, in response to the cut motions moved by 21 members, said that the situation of expenditure was not as alarming as the movers of cut motion were claiming to be. He said no doubt expenditures had increased over the budget estimates, but in some cases, expenditure had come down in the revised budget from the estimated amount.
He said the total increase in the revised budget came to 5.5 per cent which was not a big increase if 7.5 per cent inflation and an increase in pay were kept in view.
Syed Murad Ali Shah and Shazia Marri had moved highest number of cut motions. Out of the total 360 motion, 98 and 96 were moved by them, respectively. They opposed the demands for grant in the revised estimates as no details were provided to justify the expenditure. They and their colleague on the opposition benches demanded cutting non-development expenditure.
Murad Ali Shah said that over the past four and a half years, the assembly had worked without a finance committee, and termed it ‘a bid to hide the expenditure’.
He said the poor performance of the assembly did not justify the allowances being given to legislators. He said whatever he had drawn as legislator, was not utilised and he was ready to refund the total amount if the assembly wished him to do.
Nisar Khuhro suggested that all MPAs, excluding only ministers, should refuse to approve the supplementary grants and file a reference against the government.
Earlier, the house rejected the motions calling for permission to MMA’s Hameedullah Advocate to move a resolution and PPP’s Refigure Engineer to move a substantive motion on the massive casualties in Karachi in the wake of the thunderstorm and rains on Saturday.
