Daily Times

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has said that Rs 1,600 to Rs 1,800 billion have been provided to the Sindh government during the last three years and 27 percent more budget will be provided in the next fiscal year.

Slamming the Sindh government on Sunday for failing to develop the province despite receiving billions from the Centre in the name of development, the information minister while talking to the media persons added that the Sindh government has not been able to fix its own police department, and every year it begs the federal government to allow Rangers to stay in the province.

He further said that the law and order in the province is also bleak and street crimes are on the rise which shows the pathetic performance of the provincial government.

In the past few years, around Rs 90 million have been spent on district Larkana but no work is visible, Fawad said. Furthermore, he added that monetary funds have also been taken for district Badin, Ghotki and other areas with no evident development.

“How long will Sindh be run by awarding contracts to favoured contractors,” he questioned, adding that, “Most plebiscite cases are also from Sindh.”

He said that the federal government provided additional 500 megawatts electricity to Karachi. “The provision of additional power was the reason why the people of Karachi do not face load shedding in this scorching heat,” he stated.

The federal minister accused Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah of pursuing nationalist politics. “He [Murad] is separating himself from the politics of Benazir and Zulfiqar Bhutto,” Fawad remarked.

According to the federal minister, the entire nation was suffering for the sake of having to save the citizens of Sindh and Karachi from suffering. “Article 140A needs to be implemented in Sindh at present. Governor Raj is not a solution as it is an undemocratic process,” he maintained.

He said that the people belonging to all walks of life have appreciated the federal budget and hopefully next year will be a growth year economically. The minister informed the media that the country witnessed a record crop of wheat, rice and maize this year. “Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the inflation rate in Pakistan remained low and the government reduced the price of small vehicles in this year’s fiscal budget,” he added. Furthermore, the minister said that taxes were also reduced, and the minimum wage was raised to Rs 20,000.

“This year will be a year of growth and improvement for the common man. I am happy that all sections of Pakistan have welcomed the budget,” he stated.

“However, one of the virtues of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is that they reject everything without reading it,” the minister noted. He said that the PML-N didn’t even bother reading the budget before rejecting it completely. He added that the party had also not even looked at the electronic voting machine (EVM) before rejecting it.

“They claim that elections are failing but do not want election reforms,” Fawad observed, adding that, “These people are already claiming that the next election will be rigged.

Accusing the PML-N of rejecting everything, the federal minister said they want to deny overseas Pakistanis their right to vote, as senior party leader Ahsan Iqbal claimed that overseas Pakistanis are not aware of Pakistan’s issues.

Condemning such remarks, the federal minister maintained that the overseas Pakistanis are the ones sending money to their own country instead of taking the money out.

“Nawaz Sharif, Ishaq Dar and their sons are also overseas. What do you think about them?” Fawad commented.

To a question, Fawad said local government elections should be held in Sindh to ensure development at grass-roots level.