KARACHI: Amid rumpus by opposition members, the Sindh Assembly on Sunday adopted Sindh Finance Bill 2016 by a majority to pass the Rs869.1 billion provincial budget for financial year 2016-17.

The assembly, which had been in session for 11 days since June 11, was prorogued after the passage of the budget by the order of Governor Ishratul Ibad Khan read out by Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani amid slogans of ‘Go corruption go’ by angry MQM lawmakers.

They gathered in front of the speaker’s rostrum to voice protest against deputy speaker Syeda Shehla Raza’s treatment of cut motions filed by opposition members. They tore up copies of the finance bill and threw them in the air.

As the speaker resumed the chair he tried to calm down the Muttahida lawmakers. Leader of the Opposition Khwaja Izharul Hassan said the deputy speaker had misused authority by depriving them of their democratic right to discuss cut motions against demands for grants.

“She guillotined our cut motions by using brute majority by clubbing together all demands for grants from four to 149,” he said.

Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah laid the schedule of authorised expenditure for 2016-17, which was approved by voice votes by the majority followed by consideration of the finance bill, which was taken up clause by clause and adopted amid uproar by the opposition.

The minister said the budget was by and large tax free. Through the bill some 20 years old rates on services had been revised and high-end consumers had been brought into tax net, he said.

Before the speaker read out the order to prorogue the session, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah announced three-month pay for the staff of the assembly and law and finance departments.

Earlier, responding to a clarification sought by the leader of the opposition on a cut motion on demands for grants on supplementary expenditure for the year 2015-16, the chief minister said that some very influential people were involved in occupation of land in Karachi.

He said the influential people had advised the government not to get the state land vacated but the government went ahead to get some 6,000 land vacated which was in the possession of land mafia.

He saw occupation of land as one of the reasons behind terrorism incidents, which was also the main culprit in targeted killings.

The opposition lawmakers criticised the government’s budget policy and pointed out there was no improvement in law and order situation and infrastructure despite huge spending.

The cut motions on 42 demands for grants on supplementary expenditure were 114 against the amount of Rs 44.17 billion and over 720 cut motions were submitted against 149 demands for grants for 2016-17.

Most of the cut motions demanded cut in allocation of funds for Chief Minister’s House and divert the funds to schemes for the benefit of common man.

They were also critical of spending huge funds on purchasing costly cars and ministers while people were deprived of clean drinking water and health facilities.

The finance minister rejected the cut motions and defended the demands for grants saying that most of the cut motions related to salaries and allowances or about purchasing helicopter for the chief minister and entertainment allowance which was allocated to spend on foreign dignitaries for presenting them gifts.

Khwaja Izharul Hassan, Naheed Begum, Syed Khalid Ahmad, Rana Ansar, Heer Soho, Nishat Mohammad, Nadim Razi, Sumeta Afzal, Naila Munir, Saifuddin Khalid, of MQM, Jam Madad Ali, Imtiaz Ahmad Shaikh, Nustrat Saher Abbasi, Rafique Bhanban and Nand Kumar of PML-F, Khurram Sherzaman and Dr Seema Zia of PTI spoke on the cut motions.

According to the finance bill, the services which were brought under the tax net included charter flight services, consultancy services, public relation services, cosmetics surgery, plastic surgery, hair transplantation, hair grafting, event and communication management, laser scanning, and etc.

Small traders with Rs2.6 million to Rs 4 million limit had been exempted from sales tax. For students and researchers exemption on internet services had been increased from 2MBPs to 4 MBPs while monthly tax had been increased from Rs1,500 to Rs2,500 and infrastructure cess rate had been raised by 0.10 per cent. Those who would deposit tax in the first quarter would be entitled to five per cent exemption, according to the bill.

Similarly, those who would deposit dues of last year would be entitled to 10 per cent exemption on late payment surcharge which would be applicable from July 1st.

Under the bill, urban properties valuation had been increased by 22 per cent and stamp duty would be received on the transaction of urban properties. Similarly, the agriculture land valuation tax fees had been increased from Rs500 to Rs1000, stamp duty on bank documents had been raised by 50 per cent and power of attorney stamp duty had also been increased by 100 per cent, it said.

Likewise, stamp duty for clearance assessment had been increased from Rs200 to 500, fees for different documents had been raised from Rs20,000 to Rs30,000 and mutation fee had been upped from Rs200 to Rs500.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2016