KARACHI: A minister in the provincial government told the Sindh Assembly on Thursday that there was no role of the federal government in restoring peace to Karachi and it was in fact the two army chiefs, the PPP leadership and government of Sindh that launched the operations that ended decades-long strife and pacified the metropolis.

“There was no role of the disqualified prime minister [Nawaz Sharif] or his successor in bringing peace to the city. In fact, we have not got a single penny from Islamabad from the amount promised for the operations,” said Sohail Siyal, minister for home and agriculture, while taking part in the debate on the next fiscal’s budget.

He said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had promised during a meeting at the Governor House in Karachi that Islamabad would bear half of the cost of the operation, but his government paid nothing.

“The then and the present army chiefs, our party leadership and the Sindh government took the initiative and should be credited for bringing about peace in the city. We are also thankful to the Rangers for their invaluable contribution to the effort.”

‘Rs21bn allocated for home ministry 10 years ago increased to Rs96.282bn in next budget’

He said the Pakistan Peoples Party’s two tenures in the Sindh government had tangibly improved the security situation in the province.

“When our first government in 2008 took charge of the province, movement in many districts of Sindh was not possible after sunset without protection by the police to convoys of motorists; terrorist acts had plagued Sindh and kidnapping for ransom in several districts was a norm,” said Mr Siyal, adding that all that lawlessness had been curtailed.

Increase in police budget, jobs

He said thousands of jobs in the police had been given on merit as per a decision of the Apex Committee. Those recruitments, he added, had been made by a joint board composed of the army and the police hierarchy.

He said a 12 per cent increase had been made in the budget for the home ministry for the next fiscal, while 450pc increase had been made in the past one decade.

“It was Rs21 billion allocation for the home ministry 10 years ago, which has now swelled to Rs96.282bn.”

He said the number of police force was 86,253 in 2008, which had increased to 144,211 now.

Measures to boost agriculture

Regarding his agriculture portfolio, the minister said 35,500 tractors had been distributed. Besides, bulldozers and other equipment had been increased to turn more barren land fertile.

He criticised the federal government for not giving permission to the Sindh government for export of sugar cane.

He said Sindh had been protesting against the excesses of the Indus River System Authority with Islamabad, but the PML-N government did not budge.

He said 2,082 tube wells were running on solar energy, 14,325 more watercourses had been lined and 300 small dams had been built. “We have approved the agriculture policy, a first in the history of Pakistan, which would help improve agriculture income.”

Demands

Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Zubair Ahmed said several schemes had not been completed in years. He demanded more land for new cemeteries.

PPP’s Shaheena Sher said the Sindh government had offered a “good budget” despite the province being denied its due share in the National Finance Commission Award. She demanded the government release SNEs for four colleges and two hospitals in Malir, the buildings of which had already been completed.

Rafique Bhanbhan of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) said the PPP’s sit-in in Hyderabad for water scarcity was aimed at “befooling the people” for the sake of winning the next elections. He said road infrastructure was still a dream for the people of his constituency.

MQM-P’s Rauf Siddiqui said education should be the only priority of the government, which should have invested only in that sector for five years to ensure a respectable literacy rate in Sindh.

He said every district of Sindh should at least have one university. He lamented that 48 per cent of children were malnourished in a province which was agriculturally rich.

PPP’s Ali Nawaz Shah spoke on his ordeal in the cases which, in the end, proved him innocent. He said he had never sold his conscience.

MQM’s Nadeem Razi, who has defected to the Pak Sarzameen Party, wondered how 7.5 million people “have disappeared from Karachi” during the recent census.

PML-N’s Sorath Thebo said the government should have set up a provincial finance commission. She said no water was available in half of the government-sector schools and so was the case with boundary walls with as many schools.

She claimed Nawaz Sharif was instrumental in establishing peace in Karachi.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Seema Zia spoke bitterly on, what she called the culture of rampant corruption in the province. She said a commission as warranted by the transparency bill passed by the government was still awaited.

Words expunged

During her speech she uttered words on two occasions, which were taken against the accepted parliamentary norms, and the chair expunged them from the proceedings. The lawmaker apologised for this.

PPP’s Ghulam Qadir Chandio was also confronted by the opposition members on a part of his statement directed at the MQM, which too had been expunged.

MQM’s Naheed Begum, who has defected to the PSP, said members should refrain from spreading hatred as a single irresponsible word uttered by them could ignite a fire. She also demanded setting up of the provincial finance commission.

PPP’s Lalchand Ukrani claimed the government had improved the living standard of the people of Sindh. He criticised the PML-N and PTI leaderships.

PML-F’s Nusrat Abbasi said it was an “undemocratic and anti-people” budget in which new schemes had been included in the name of ongoing schemes. She deplored that every year most funds for development schemes lapsed.

She claimed heavy corruption was involved in alternative energy projects in three districts; while corruption of Rs24bn had been made in the funds meant for girls’ schools and publication of books. She said Rs105 million was spent on kites in festivals of the culture ministry.

MQM’s Qamar Rizvi said sports should be paid more attention.

Industries Minister Manzoor Wassan targeted the PML-F leadership in his speech and alleged that they illegally allotted “thousands of acres” in Khairpur district.

MQM’s Kamran Akhtar said the government had failed to set up even a single model union council.

Resolutions on killings adopted

PML-F’s parliamentary leader Nand Kumar tabled two resolutions before the house which were unanimously adopted by the house.

The first resolution pertained to the recent killing of a man and his son belonging to the Hindu community in Hub town of Balochistan.

The resolution demanded that the Balochistan government investigate the killings and ensure protection to the people practising minority faiths in the province.

In another resolution, the house vehemently condemned the Israeli aggression and brutal killing of Palestinians. It called upon the United Nations to take cognizance of Israeli violence and brutalities against Palestinians, killing more than 60 innocent people and wounding thousands of others.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2018