Karachi:
The Sindh government is determined to protect the rights of the province about its part in the water of the Industry river, Minister Murad Ali Shah said on Friday.
“We will not allow anyone to steal Eve a decrease in the legitimate share of the province in the industrial river,” said the director general of the provincial government concerning the planned construction of new channels on the river by the Punjab.
“We are closely monitoring the situation,” he said, while concluding the discussion before the budget in the Assembly, underlined the government’s commitment to maintain public order, stressing the importance of transparent financial planning and indicating that no construction took place on the Cholistan canal.
He pointed out that there was no construction of the Sulemanki head in Marot, where a 5,000 -foot channel was found abandoned, and no other activity has been observed. Thanks to the cards and budgetary estimates, he showed that no spending had been incurred on the construction of Cholistan.
Safety and vigilance
The CM began its speech by expressing concerns about the growing wave of terrorism in the country, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balutchistan. He assured the assembly that the Sindh government and the police were monitoring the situation to prevent any threat of security in the province.
“For decades, anarchy was a major problem in our country and our province, but after 2013-2014, the conditions began to improve,” he said.
He also stressed that the Sindh Assembly had previously adopted a resolution against terrorism, highlighting the responsibility of all political parties to prioritize national security above political differences.
Prebudgetary discussion rule
He stressed that the Sindh is unique in rule 143, which allows prebudget structured discussions, unlike any National or Provincial Assembly, stressing that this rule allows all members to discuss budgetary issues and propose solutions.
By comparing last year’s delay due to government training, Shah noted that this year’s discussions are on the right track, praising productive debates and increased participation of the legislators, because last year, political tensions led to only 31 members to participate.
Opposition role and commitment
The CM also admitted the opposition chief for recognizing the good intentions of the government despite the differences in execution.
“I am happy to learn that there is no doubt about our intentions,” said Shah, highlighting his party’s commitment to the well-being of the inhabitants of Sindh since 1970, highlighting an increase in commitment to the Assembly, with 100 members speaking this year and 132 last year during the budget discussions.
The CM highlighted the importance of discussing the problems of infrastructure and water supply in Karachi, calling the city “the heart rate of the country”. He undertook to document all the suggestions for consideration in the budget from 2025 to 26. He informed the Assembly that this year, the total budget was RS3.056 billion. As of February 28, 2025, nearly RS2,000 billion rupees were published, and RS1,454 billion have already been used with a large part of employee spending, including wages and pensions, in addition to most of the subsidies devoted to health establishments such as SIUT. “It turned out to be a very effective way to benefit people directly,” said the CM.
Shah also said that of the 1,153 development regimes, 1,035 RS50 million received funding, as well as 610 of the 624 larger projects out of 50 million rupees. For the 2,472 plans on 100 million rupees, so far, 2,050 have been funded in four payments. The CM responded to the concerns about the government’s performance declaration, declaring that out of 4,500 development plans, 50 projects have been completed, with numerous Karachi improvement projects. “Despite the achievements, focusing on only 25 projects creates a false impression of inactivity,” he said, highlighting 303 billion rupees spent on development.
