KARACHI: The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) on Saturday staged a protest in front of the Sindh Assembly against meagre budget allocation for Karachi, demanding the provincial government to earmark Rs500 billion in the provincial budget and early completion of K-IV water supply project.

A number of JI workers and supporters gathered at Masjid-i-Khizra and marched towards the Sindh Assembly, where they staged the protest demonstration.

Carrying placards and banners, the protesters chanted slogans against the ruling parties over depriving Karachi and Karachiites of their due rights.

Speaking on the occasion, JI-Karachi chief Monem Zafar said that the federal and provincial governments had once again presented an anti-people and anti-Karachi budget.

He demanded the government to earmark Rs500bn to initially address the burning issues of Karachi.

He said that the city needs 10,000 busses under the mass transit system as mere 300 busses are unable to cater a city that is home to more than 30 million individuals. He also demanded that the Karachi Circular Railway be revived.

Talking about the much-needed K-IV project, he said that the Wapda sought Rs40bn to complete the project but the government earmarked just Rs3.2bn in the federal budget, practically shelving the project.

Karachi paid Rs3,000bn in tax but the government couldn’t allocate just Rs40bn for the K-IV project, he said.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2025