KARACHI: While launching a scathing attack on the Pakistan Peoples Party-led Sindh government over alleged corruption, misgovernance and failure to deliver basic services, leaders of the Tehreek Tahaffuz-i-Ayeen Pakistan (TTAP) on Monday simultaneously embraced the ruling party’s position on key federal-provincial issues, rejecting any changes to the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award and warning of a mass movement against any water project which threatened the provincial rights.

The remarks were made at a joint press conference organised by TTAP Sindh at the Karachi Press Club and attended by TTAP Vice Chairman Syed Zain Shah, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Sindh President Haleem Adil Sheikh, former Sindh governor Mohammad Zubair and leaders of other opposition parties.

Speaking on the occasion, Zubair criticised the federal government and said, “Sindh cannot be turned into a scapegoat for federal inefficiency.”

He said the NFC Award represented a constitutional compact between the federation and provinces and could not be altered through administrative decisions.

Opposition leaders back Sindh’s stance on NFC; warn of mass movement against projects affecting province’s water share

“Provinces are constitutionally entitled to 57.5pc of divisible resources, and any change in this arrangement requires a constitutional amendment,” he said.

He criticised the exclusion of petroleum levy collections from the divisible pool, arguing that nearly Rs1.7tr that should have been shared with provinces was being retained by the federal government.

PTI-Sindh president Haleem Adil said on the occasion that the people of Sindh were facing a “double burden”, witnessing federal injustices on one hand and an 18-year rule of “corruption and poor governance” by the PPP government on the other.

He claimed that despite receiving more than Rs33 trillion in allocations and resources over the past 18 years, the province continued to lag in education, healthcare, law and order and local government services.

“It’s not me, but audit reports and ‘development projects’ have revealed financial irregularities exceeding Rs12.5tr and exposed the provincial budget for failing to provide meaningful relief to citizens,” he said.

Referring to Karachi, he said the city contributed “nearly 65pc of Pakistan’s revenue” and more than 90pc of Sindh’s revenue, yet residents continued to face severe shortages of water, sanitation, transport, healthcare and education.

He also criticised federal efforts to obtain grants from provinces without public consultation, calling the move a violation of provincial autonomy, and warned that attempts to deprive people of their rights and resources could trigger a strong political response.

TTAP vice chairman Zain Shah accused the federal government of undermining provincial autonomy through “proposed changes to financial arrangements and water distribution”.

He made it clear that any reduction in the provincial share under the NFC Award would be unacceptable. He alleged that the federation was attempting to inappropriately use provincial resources through federal grants, provincial surplus mechanisms and petroleum levy collections.

“Sindh’s financial and water resources are both being taken away under different pretexts; such measures will not be accepted by the people of the province,” he added.

He also expressed concern over “controversial water projects” that could further reduce Sindh’s share of water. He claimed that after the proposal for six new canals, efforts were now underway to construct a dam on the Chenab River, alleging that the project was linked to plans for agricultural settlements in Cholistan.

Criticising the Sindh government’s latest budget, he claimed allocations for agricultural research had been reduced by 57 per cent, warning that cuts in research funding would weaken scientific innovation, increase crop diseases and further burden farmers.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd , 2026