SANGHAR - PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Saturday that any conspiracy to snatch powers of the provinces is unacceptable.

Bilawal addressed a gathering in Sanghar, accusing the Centre of discriminatory attitude towards Sindh in water resources distribution issue.

Bilawal said entire country has been suffering from water scarcity since 10 years and Sindh had been the worst affected for both drinking and agriculture water. “And during all these years we have been working on clean water not due to any suo motu,” he stated, adding Sindh is craving for its water share.

Sindh had reservations over 1991 Water Accord signed during PML-N government but this too is not being implemented, he stated.

The PPP Chairman pointed out that it was no more a secret that Nawaz Sharif keeps people thirsty whenever he is into power. He has water for flowers in Lahore but won’t give it to people to drink, Bilawal added.

He said Sindh government carried out lining up of water courses and canals to save available water and in Sanghar alone, lining of 23 distributaries was carried out in last five years and irrigated 1000s of acres barren land additionally while 1700 RO plants were installed in entire Sindh.

“I don’t say that everything is 100 percent correct but our hard work and intentions cannot be put to doubt. We know the problems of people and do people’s politics. Only PPP has served Sindh and gave mega projects to the province,” he stated.

While talking about the 18th Amendment in the Constitution, the PPP chairman said that the amendment ensured autonomy of the provinces. The amendment, for the first time, strengthened the provinces in terms of finances, politics and administration, Bilawal added.

Bilawal accused ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of carrying out ‘attacks’ on 18th Amendment. He claimed that PML-N was hatching a conspiracy to withdraw powers given to the provinces under 18th Amendment.

He said PPP got passed the landmark 18th Amendment unanimously from the Parliament after consultations with political parties and ensured provincial autonomy. “PPP won’t tolerate attacks on 18th Amendment and conspiracies against NFC Award,” the PPP chairman added.

He said the PPP made extraordinary efforts for poverty alleviation and the party through its development programme alleviated more than 600,000 families of the province.

Bilawal said the PPP is well acquainted with the issues of the masses and has the potential to resolve them. The PPP chairman claimed that if any work was carried out in the province it was due to his party’s endeavours.

He said his party does the politics for the people and has laid the basis of every successful project in the province.

While indirectly referring to his political opponents, Bilawal said the party believes in Sufism and ideology. “We need to separate Peeri Mureedi from politics,” he added.

Bilawal inaugurated Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Fresh Water Project to provide drinking water from Nara Canal to 85 villages of Achro Thar in Sanghar District.

Under the project completed by Sindh government, 240 kilometres main pipeline and en route lines have been laid to ensure water supply to the 85 villages dotting the dry desert. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, ministers, PPP Sindh President Nisar Khuhro, PPP MNA from Sanghar Shazia Marri and others were present on the occasion.

Addressing the party workers and notables of Sanghar, the PPP chairman said, “I have just inaugurated a 240 kilometres long pipeline to provide drinking water to the thirsty masses of the backward area Achro Thar of Sanghar who had been praying for rain since centuries to quench their thirst.”

He said for him there could be no better moment of happiness today that from now on my people in Achro Thar won’t remain thirsty. “In the last five years, the so-called big parties PML-N or its allies and PTI have been indulging in personal fighting throwing accusations and insults on each other for the sake of chair but never talked about people’s problems.”

Bilawal said PPP had been serving the masses since last five years spending its energies on solutions of basic issues. “We worked on education, health, employment and clean water. We built new varsities, colleges, extended stipends to school-going girls,” he added.

He pointed out that Sindh has excelled in provision of health facilities, which includes construction of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Trauma Centre in Karachi, biggest emergency response centre for children, and Pakistan’s first Cyber Knife technology machine to conduct free of cost cancer radio surgery, which normally costs Rs6 million.

“After NICVD Karachi, hospitals of international standards have been established in Larkana, Tando Mohammad Khan, Sehwan and Sukkur to provide free of cost otherwise very costly cardiovascular treatments. A state of the art liver transplant centre has been built in Gambat, a tehsil of Khairpur district where liver transplantation is carried out free of cost and facility is available to every Pakistani citizen,” he added.

Bilawal said these are very costly medical treatments, unaffordable for the poor but PPP government has made available these treatments without charges. He stated poverty in the country is due to the anti-poor policies of PML-N government.

PPP government, he said, extended interest-free loans to poor women so that they can start their own small business and so far 600,000 families have benefitted from this union council-based programme.

Bilawal said PML-N or PML-F, they are anti-people. “People always resist them in the shape of PPP. Sanghar is crying that it has been devastated by PML-F, which is still an ally of PML-N in federal government and has ruled Sanghar for last 50 years.”

He called GDA as Grand Dysfunctional Alliance and termed it a gang of political orphans. “These people remained chief ministers, ministers, advisers and sometimes king-makers but did nothing for Sanghar. PML-F always considered Sanghar as its Jagir and people as slaves. They did nothing for Sanghar, Khipro, Tando Adam, and Shahdadpur and kept people in darkness and fattening their coffers.”

Bilawal said PPP launched water supply scheme in Sanghar. “PPP constructed Sanghar-Mirpurkhas Road, Sanghar-Nawabshah Road, Khyber-Sanghar Road, Tando Adam-Kandiari Road and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto University in Sanghar.”

He said “We are Sufis and revere all the shrines but we have to segregate politics from Piri Mureedi. Everybody can make big talks but the ones who gave sacrifice and blood was Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Like them, I would also not leave you alone.”

Bilawal further said PPP started revolutionary Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). “But PML-N dislikes it because it is named after Bibi and carries her picture. They are cancelling BISP cards for it helps poorest women. Don’t know which world PML-N dwells in, because they think poverty is not an issue. People are facing malnutrition, diseases and committing suicides. We have higher child mortality rate. Looking at these issues, I cannot sleep well but their conscience appears dead.”

“PML-N has powers to write off loans of rich. It can launch tax amnesty scheme for rich people but have nothing to feed poor. They have billions to build metro buses but are cancelling BISP cards of the poor women,” he added.

Bilawal made it clear that he cannot see poor being insulted and won’t tolerate it. “Whether BISP in Centre or Sindh government’s poverty reduction programme in Sindh, PPP would continue battling poverty and PML-N’s policy to eliminate poor.”