KARACHI - Sindh Assembly on Saturday unanimously approved the provincial budget for the fiscal 2009-10 with a consolidated outlay of Rs327 billion, after passage of Finance Bill 2009, rejecting all cut motions by the opposition. Introducing the Finance Bill, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah said it was aimed at rationalising certain duties and taxes for which it was expedient to amend relevant laws. The CM tabled 59 demands for grants for financial year 2009-10 worth Rs327 billion in the house for approval. The opposition led by its leader Jam Madad Ali, Sheharyar Mehar, Syeda Marvi Rashidi, Nusrat Abbasi, Dr Rafique Bhamban, Mohammad Ali Malkani and Abdur Razzaq Rahimoon, submitted 1,244 cut motions against 1 to 43 demands. Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro put all the motions to the house, which rejected the cut motions and approved the grants. Speaking on the occasion, Qaim congratulated both opposition and treasury benches on the passage of budget. He also congratulated President Asif Ali Zardari, MQM chief Altaf Hussain, Pir Pagaro, Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi, Arbab Ghulam Rahim and Asfandyar Wali for their cooperation in running the house smoothly, which will help serve the people of Sindh. He eulogised Speaker Nisar Khuhro for conducting budget session smoothly and allowed 136 members to express their views on the budget. Senior Minister Pir Mazharul Haq, Law Minister Ayaz Soomro, Syed Sardar Ahmed, NPP member Masroor Jatoi and opposition member Abdur Razzaq Rahimoon congratulated the house for passing budget in an amicably atmosphere. Earlier, speaking in favour of his cut motions, opposition leader Jam Madad Ali said that their cut motions were aimed to curtail operating expenditure, purchase of vehicles, furniture and other unnecessary things and said the money should be spent on the people welfare oriented schemes. Opposition member Sheharyar Mehar said that huge amounts had been allocated for health department for the purchase of new furniture and other official expenditure, which he termed as unjustified and demanded it should be decreased. The money of poor people should not be spent on the luxuries of the bureaucracy but on the purchase of medicines. Rahimoon said they demanded cut in the spending of officials and not on public welfare schemes. He said huge sums had been allocated for the lavishness of bureaucracy. This amount should be utilised on other welfare-oriented projects, he said. Nusrat Abbasi said she had submitted cut motions against the expenditure of secretariat. Since it was a deficit budget so the money should be spent of those projects from which the people get benefits, she said, adding that people pinned great hopes with the government and it was its duty to come up their expectations.