KARACHI - The Sindh Assembly on Monday witnessed heated debate between the opposition and treasury lawmakers over lack of attention from PTI-led federal government on National Finance Commission (NFC).
The discussion was held at an adjournment motion from PPPP lawmaker Nida Khuhro who said that the PTI has not given any attention towards the NFC award and instead focusing on selling dreams of large paybacks from chicken and egg business.
“It was PPPP that gave the province their due right under the NFC award and after that the federal government is yet to give the new NFC award,” she said.
The PPPP lawmaker said that the people of the province were punished for voting PPPP and are deprived of their due right of gas and water shares.
“The provincial funds are being cut by three percent to fund FATA areas,” she said and added that they have no reservations on funding FATA instead the funds be cut from federal share rather than the province.
MQM-P lawmaker and former opposition leader Khwaja Izhar ul Hassan said that they would not oppose demand from federal government to award a new NFC award and focus on funding it. “But we also want to ask for due share of the Karachi city,” he said.
Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah said that those who are speaking on JIT affairs during a discussion on NFC want to divert attention from due rights of the province. “When Bengal was not given its due share in 1970s it led to a disaster in 1971,” he warned and added that credit goes to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who gave NFC award under 1973 constitution.
He said that whether anyone lives in Karachi or any other part of the province it is their obligation to speak up for the rights of the province.
PTI lawmaker Haleem Adil Shaikh said that the federal government asked for three names for representation in NFC but despite three reminders, the province did not forward names.
“They were busy dealing JIT and affairs of other corrupt people,” he said adding that it was provincial government’s responsibility to fight case of the province but they are busy fighting cases of Anwar Majeed.
The provincial government was demanding funds under NFC but despite passage of six months of the current fiscal year only 15 percent of the development expenditure is spent.
“Rs 300 billion funds of the provincial government had lapsed in PPP tenures and RO plants and the hospitals are locked despite tall claims of expenditures,” he said and added that they want money but do not serve the masses.
“The students in Bilawal Bhutto’s constituency are studying in open air but they still want funds to carryout corrupt practices,” he said. PML-F lawmaker Nusrat Sehar Abbasi said that those who are demanding accountability for 100 days should also make themselves accountable for 11 year rule in the province.
She said that Rs 15000 billion were received in the province during the PPPP tenure. “They [PPPP] should be made accountable for this amount and explain as to where it was spend to uplift the socio-economic conditions in the province,” she said.
The opposition lawmakers also asked as to why the province has not given a provincial finance commission since 12 years. “If the province is asking for its due rights then it should also be distributed accordingly,” they said. They also lambasted discrepancies in the census process and said that if the population is not counted properly then how it could be distributed accordingly.
The house also unanimously passed a bill titled Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Institute of Trauma at Karachi Bill, 2018. The bill was approved a select committee of the provincial assembly.
On Monday, the bill was tabled by Provincial Minister for Health Azra Fazl Pechuhu and was aimed at establishment of trauma institute named after PPPP leader Benazir Bhutto.
The executive and financial administration of the institute would be carried out through a board that would include minister health as chairperson with Secretary health, four private members nominated by the chief minister in concerned fields, vice chancellor of Dow University of Health Sciences, secretary finance, Medical Superintendent Civil Hospital as its members. Executive director of the institute would act as the secretary of the board.
The institute would have an academic council that would look after all academic and research activities and would update the curriculum, policies for trainees and students.
There would be a selection board that would be headed by an executive director and other members appointed by the board and would deal in appointments of senior medical and technical posts.
A privilege motion submitted by MQM-P lawmaker Muhammad Hussain pertaining to non-implementation on the general public issues related resolutions passed from the house was withdrawn after the parliamentary affairs minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla assured him to look into the issue. The speaker also asked the provincial minister to form a committee to oversee implementation of resolutions. Minister for education Syed Sardar Shah informed the house that there were 23 libraries under the domain of his department and 11 of them have wifi facilities for computer section while one other also had a public wifi.
“Complaints were received of misuse of public wifi facility but it will soon be resolved,” said the minister while responding to a call attention from PPPP lawmaker Marvi Faseeh regarding wifi facilities in public libraries who also said that wifi service be made mandatory in order to facilitate the students.
The PML-F lawmaker in her call attention said that the Khairpur Medial College is not yet registered and the students who had completed their five-year studies had to suffer the consequences. To this, the provincial minister for health Azra Fazl Pechuhu assured that the registration process issue would soon be resolved.
MQM-P lawmaker Mangla Sharma raised issue of abduction of a Hindu trader Ramesh Lal from Sukkur to which the parliamentary affairs minister said that they were close to the abductors and would soon arrest the culprits.
The speaker adjourned the debate on the PPPP lawmaker Sadia Javed adjournment motion pertaining to federal government commitment in completion of Karachi Circular Railway for Thursday.
The assembly proceedings that began 45 minutes late from scheduled timing of 3:00 pm were later adjourned by the Speaker Sindh Assembly Agha Siraj Durrani for Tuesday morning.