KARACHI: The Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) has accused the federal, provincial and local government of ignoring Karachi in their respective budgets.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, JI-Karachi chief Monem Zafar said that the Pakistan People Party government allocated just Rs37.44 billion for Karachi out of its budget amounted to Rs3.45 trillion — a mere 1.1 per cent of the total budget of Sindh.
He said that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz never showed any interest in Karachi. He said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan was a part of the federal government but it badly failed in presenting the case of Karachi at the Centre.
He condemned the federal government for allocating just Rs3.2bn for the much-needed K-IV water supply project.
“The federal and provincial governments have no vision for the future of Karachi or Karachiites,” he said.
He demanded that at least Rs500bn be allocated for the development in Karachi. Similarly, he called upon authorities to earmark Rs2bn and Rs20 million to each town and union committee.
Talking about the budget of nine towns controlled by the JI, he said that Rs870m was allocated for the education sector compared to Rs520m in the last fiscal year. He said that an amount of over Rs310.5m was allocated for the health sector compared to Rs160m in the previous year.
“Similarly Rs12.36 billion has been allocated for development as compared to Rs3170 million in the last year. The JI will transform 18 public schools into model schools in the nine towns. Furthermore, health centres in the nine towns will also be upgraded,” he added.
Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2025
