KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly has passed the Rs869 billion budget and finance bill for 2016-2017 amid protests from the opposition.
Members of opposition parties had moved around 600 cut motions against the grants demanded by the Sindh government to reduce unnecessary, non-development expenditure allocated in various departments. The speaker took up a few of the 600 cut motions during the session, only to reject all of them and, using his powers, give the floor to the treasury members to present the bill.
Earlier, education and parliamentary affairs minister Nisar Ahmed Khuhro requested the speaker to expedite the process of passing the budget, saying that it will just take more days to take up the cut motions submitted by the opposition parties. “You have powers to relax all rules and make a decision on it,” Khuhro said to the speaker, hinting at getting rid of the cut motions.
After this, the speaker winded up the discussion and asked the finance minister to move the motion to pass the budget. Later, the budget was passed with majority votes and speaker adjourned the session indefinitely.
Speaking at the session, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said the land mafia is the major factor behind terrorism in Karachi.
“Most of the targeted killings have happened because of disputes over land,” said Shah, responding to MPAs’ queries. He added that influential people are involved in land grabbing in Karachi, claiming that he was approached by many people demanding favours in land allotments but he refused. “The government is also very active against this mafia and has evacuated 6,500 acres occupied by these influential people,” he said, adding that when the Pakistan Peoples Party was in the opposition in General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s dictatorship, some elements set the revenue record of Karachi on fire in order to tamper with them.
