Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Tuesday said that the federal government was in dire need of "switching from the present jalsa mode to government mode", as decisions such as awarding citizenship and undertaking garbage disposal work cannot be announced in public gatherings.

The chief minister's remarks came during a post-budget press conference held in Karachi, a day after he unveiled the Sindh government budget in the Sindh Assembly for the remaining nine months of the current fiscal year.

Prime Minister Imran Khan's decision to award nationality to Afghani and Bengali nationals living in Karachi cannot be implemented if it does not conform to the Pakistan Citizenship Act of 1951, Shah said.

“Foreigners who came to our country illegally cannot be given Pakistani nationality as once an unlawful decision is made to this effect it would open floodgates of illegal immigrants in the country,” said the Sindh chief minister.

Shah said that if the decision to grant Pakistani nationality didn’t conform to the law then for its implementation the federal government will have to amend the Citizenship Act through the parliament.

“In case of such an unlawful act, lawmakers of the concerned political parties in the parliament including that of our own party will definitely register their protest against the move and will resist it,” he said.

Regarding the PM Khan's directives — during his visit to Karachi — for the Sindh government to undertake and complete garbage lifting work within two months, the CM denied that any such instructions were given when the premier met him during his stay in the city.

“In the event, the prime minister asked the Sindh governor to take action to this effect before making the announcement at a public gathering, then the Sindh governor cannot be assumed as synonymous with the Sindh government. At the same time, the governor himself should not also transgress his lawful and constitutional authority,” he said.

Shah said that decisions such as awarding citizenship and garbage disposal work should not be announced in public meetings.

“It is my request to the present (federal) government to switch from its present jalsa mode to the desired government mode,” he said.

He also said that measures such as the auction of luxurious motor vehicles cannot have a lasting impact on affairs related to governance.

“If such expensive vehicles could be auctioned then anybody [is welcome to] come forward and sell two of my armoured vehicles to fetch me their due market price,” he said.

“Now even the buffaloes of PM House are being sold off but people on social media have started advising the rulers that instead of selling these buffaloes, their milk should be sold for far greater profit as altogether selling of buffaloes could attract launching of investigation by the NAB on account of causing loss to the national exchequer,” said the CM in a lighter vein.

The CM denied the impression — as observed by the federal government — that his government was not in the mood to adopt the austerity drive and was unwilling to auction the fleet of surplus luxurious vehicles it has available.

He said that his government would surely sell off such luxurious vehicles, which were more than ten years old, as much expenses had to be borne on the repair and maintenance of such vehicles.

The chief minister said that under the austerity measures of his government, there would be a complete ban on the purchase of new vehicles except those required for emergency and mandatory services like police vehicles and ambulances.

Cut in budget

CM Shah said that his government had to reduce Rs24 billion out of Rs50 billion it had earlier reserved for new development schemes under its Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the current financial year 2017-18.

This decision had to be reached owing to short supply of funds due from the federal government. He said that his government had received Rs49 billion less on account of the federal transfer of funds till June 2018.

The CM said that the size of the district ADP funds had been increased from Rs30 billion to Rs35 billion in order to enable the elected local government representatives to implement development schemes at the grass-roots level.

He said that Rs18 billion had been reserved for new development projects in the ongoing financial year including upgradation of Taulka hospitals in Umerkot, Mithi, and Kandhkot. He said that some 31 new trauma centres would be established in the current financial year in different parts of the province.

Also, under the new development schemes, a 87 kilometre-long coastal highway would be built to benefit the coastal towns of Sindh whose land faces erosion due to sea intrusion.

He conceded that his government had much to do to improve the education sector in the province and that at present several schemes were being completed to provide all the missing facilities at some 4,650 schools which carried the burden of 80 per cent enrolment of students in the government-run schools in Sindh.

He said that government-run schools in the province were being upgraded with the aim to enrol and educate more than 550,000 children.