DADU: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the federal government has released Rs505 billion out of the province’s share of Rs665 billion for the current financial year.

He hoped that the remaining amount would also be released at the earliest.

The chief minister repeated his party’s stance that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government played mischief in getting the federal budget approved. He said PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari condemned the federal government over this and also strongly criticised the role of the National Assembly speaker in this regard.

He was speaking to local reporters on Sunday during his visit to Bubak village of Sehwan taluka where he visited the bereaved family of a party colleague, Rais Bangal Khan Bozdar, to condole his death.

In reply to a question, Mr Shah said he believed that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari would opt for the slot of senate chairman if it fell vacant after possible removal of Sadiq Sanjrani. He recalled that Mr Sanjrani was elected the senate chairman in an initiative taken by Mr Zardari himself.

He noted that the opposition in the National Assembly was not given proper hearing on the budget. He said the PPP kept opposing the huge taxes imposed on the general public and also warned that the inflation rate would go up.

The CM pointed out that prices of all essential commodities were already skyrocketing while the budget would aggravate the situation further.

He said the opposition had presented a number of proposals but the federal government appeared not ready to consider any of them. “We condemn the federal government attitude,” he added. Mr Shah claimed that the PTI government had totally failed to deliver and was still bent upon levying unbearable burden of taxes on the ordinary people.

He observed that all segments of the country’s population rejected the budget like the PTI government’s policies. Therefore, he said,

PTI should step down in the greater interest of the country and the nation.

In reply to a question about a reported meeting of 15 Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) members of the National Assembly with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Syed Murad Ali Shah said this was a question to be asked from the PML-N leadership. He, however, alleged that opposition lawmakers in the National Assembly were being harassed and forced to change their loyalty.

them efforts were taken to change their loyalties. Some of them were being offered positions as well, he claimed.

Regarding the locust invasion in parts of Sindh, the CM said he himself visited the affected areas and observed that no major damage was caused to standing crops.

He said his government was making all out efforts to tackle the situation. He said the plant protection division, originally set up by the PPP government in ‘70s, was working under the federal government to help cope with the situation.

He said that at present, the plant protection division was also in trouble as 10 out of the 17 planes meant for anti-pest spray, were unaccounted for and only one of the remaining seven was in working condition.

He said that the only functional plane provided by the federal government also developed a fault as soon as it arrived in Sindh.

The chief minister was accompanying Hyderabad Commissioner Abbas Baloch, Jamshoro DC retired Captain Fariduddin Mustafa and SSP Tauqeer Mohammad Naeem during his visit to the village. PPP leaders Syed Mohammad Shah, Syed Asif Ali Shah, Amanullah Shahani and Saleem Bajari were also present at the CM’s media talk.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2019