KARACHI  - Sindh Minister for Information, Local Government, Housing &Town Planning, Religious Affairs, Forest and Wildlife Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, referring to the recently presented budget of the Sindh government, said yesterday that although it was not an ideal budget, but Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah prepared and presented it as better as he could.

Addressing a press conference along with Sindh Minister for Education and Labour Saeed Ghani and Sindh Minister for Energy Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh in Karachi, he said there was no doubt that recent budget of Sindh had given priority to health sector over all other sectors, but apart from that considering the serious problems faced by the farmers, small landowners, and people running small businesses a considerable amount had been set aside in the budget.

Critics might not be aware of this, but the Sindh provincial government had also allocated a large portion of the budget to Karachi, he added.

The minister said that the Sindh government was working on various water projects and it was promise of the provincial government that improvements would be made in that regard soon.

He said due to incompetence of the federal government, the People’s Support Program was started by the Sindh government. He said that The World Bank had funded all projects on loan basis and the government had to repay the loans.

Talking about the hike in petrol price, Nasir Hussain said the increase in petrol price had created problems for the people.

Talking about the recent decision of the Supreme Court regarding purchase of luxury vehicles, Nasir Shah said the Sindh government had already decided that this year, due to the situation arising after the spread of the Coronavirus, no new car would be purchased. If there was a great need, vehicles would be procured for the security personnel working in the field or as and when required for eradication of locusts, he added. He said that every decision of the Supreme Court would be implemented, adding that, the Sindh government had no plans to buy luxury vehicles in the budget. Speaking on the occasion, Sindh Minister for Education and Labour Saeed Ghani said that no government other than the Sindh, had increased salaries of labourers and government employees in the budget. He said that projects worth billions of rupees had been signed to improve Karachi’s infrastructure as well as water and sewerage system.

Sindh government ministers, at the press conference, criticised the federal government and said the policies of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were detrimental for the country.

Saeed Ghani said the federal government should also play its role in getting Karachi out of its problems.

He said the Muttahida Qaumi Movement( MQM) was an equal partner with the federal government in the affairs of steel mills and the increase in petrol prices. MQM’s reality could expose its real face to the people, he added.

Imtiaz Shaikh said that the import of furnace oil was stopped due to which load-shedding went up and now with the supply of furnace oil the duration of load-shedding had been decreased.