KARACHI: Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah said on Thursday that the federal government is using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to cover up its poor performance.
Addressing a post-budget press conference, the chief minister the lack of revenue generation was due to the economic policies of the federal government rather than the pandemic
CM Sindh said that in the current year, the province has received Rs229 billion less from the federal government. He said Sindh was supposed to receive Rs835 billion this year but got Rs553 billion from the amended target as well.
The chief minister said that except for health, no new scheme was introduced in any sector, and the GDP drowth target by the Centre has been placed at 2.1 percent.
He alleged that the development budget was slashed, adding that the federal government “does not want to own up” its incompetency.
Yesterday, CM Sindh unveiled the budget for the year 2020-21, with an outlay of Rs1.24 trillion, amid a ruckus from opposition lawmakers in the assembly session. He announced that the government of Sindh has decided to increase the salaries of civil servants.
In his budget speech, the chief minister announced that the salaries of Grade 1-16 government employees would be increased 10%, while those of Grade 17-21 would receive a 5% raise. This would not be applicable to provincial ministers and members of the Sindh cabinet.
He had said the government of Sindh had formed a Rs3 billion Corona Emergency Fund and the province took the initiative for the lockdown before other provinces followed suit.
The chief minister further added that for the education sector, Rs21.1 billion have been allocated for 11 new projects. A sum of Rs5 billion was allocated to deal with the pandemic measures.
The recommendations also included the allocation of Rs7.2 billion and Rs1.86 billion for Malir Expressway and Karachi-Thatta double-track road, respectively.
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