KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that the PPP government does not believe in vindictive policies and has always strived for the supremacy of law that is why peace has been restored to Karachi.

The chief minister, who was winding up the general discussion on the budget for the year 2016-17 and the supplementary budget in the Sindh Assembly on Saturday, said the operation would have failed if it was not across the board.

He termed the kidnapping of the son of the Sindh High Court chief justice a move to harass the judiciary. He gave details about the measures taken by the government for his early recovery. About the killing of qawwal Amjad Sabri in Liaquatabad, he said a nine-member high-powered committee had been constituted to investigate the murder. He also announced Rs10 million compensation for the Sabri family besides vowing to bear all expenses of the education of his children. He said the government would also arrange a suitable job for the wife of late Amjad Sabri.

Referring to the launch of targeted operations in Karachi, he said the year 2013 witnessed 965 killings which came down to 33 in 2016, while the number of extortion cases reduced to 37 in 2016 from 1,524 cases in 2013.

The chief minister also recalled law and order situation of the city in the Musharraf-era when he said those sitting in the opposition were in the government and the then Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Chaudhry had arrived to attend a ceremony of the Sindh High Court Bar Association. He said how the main roads were blocked and people were killed on that day. He also cited the Nishtar park tragedy and other attacks. Over 150 PPP activists were killed in twin blasts near Karsaz on the arrival of Benazir Bhutto, he said, reiterating that the PPP never pursued vindictive policies.

About the proposed allocation of Rs11.5 billion made for CM House in the budget, he said it not only included the cost of a new helicopter to replace the obsolete one but also included Rs5 billion grant for universities and the Benzair Bhutto housing cell that had built 6,000 housing units for the poor. He said 200 acres of land could not be granted to the SHCBA members as the Supreme Court had placed a ban on allotment of land for the past three years.

He said when he paid visit to the SITE association, they expressed their pleasure for getting them rid of the curse of extortion slips.

The chief minister in his over three-hour-long speech responded to almost all points raised by the opposition benches including those related to K-IV water project, vocational training of youth, provision of land to women peasants.

He said that wind power projects in Badin had been producing electricity 300MW which was being supplied to Karachi.

Before concluding his speech, the chief minister said: “Have mercy on Sindh.” He said the opposition members expressed gratitude to Altaf Bhai for sending them to the assembly, but they forgot to thank the sweet land of Sindh from where they got bread and butter and the River Indus that supplied them with water.

After the speech, Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani took up discussion on the charged expenditure, followed by discussion and voting for grants on supplementary budget for the year 2015-16 with total estimates of Rs45.1 billion.

Earlier while initiating the discussion, MQM lawmaker Syed Sardar Ahmad highlighted the need to change the perception of not taking approval from the assembly of the charged expenditures. Finance minister Murad Ali Shah informed the house that all the details of the charged expenditure could be referred to in the budget documents.

The house rejected the cut motions, which were tabled by Naila Munir and Heer Soho of the MQM, on demand for Rs10.53 billion expenditures of 2015-16.In view of Iftar, the chair adjourned the house at 5.35pm to meet on Sunday at 10am to consider remaining 43 demands and other budget 2015-16 estimates.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2016