Staff Reporter Karachi
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said Monday that Sindh was being discriminated against in the distribution of resources.
Addressing a press conference here, he said, “When we talk about the rights of the province, federal ministers and advisers get irritated. Sindh was not given its due share in the national budget.
We were not given even half of what was promised to us. The federal government had promised to us that we would be given Rs742 billion.” The CM said Sindh was only given Rs589 billion in 11 months.
Dispelling the impression that the landlords of Sindh were involved in stealing water, he told that the province was given 35 per cent less water than its due share.
He accused the federal government of pressuring IRSA not to give Sindh its due share in water. “I am at a loss to understand why IRSA has not uttered a word yet,” Murad wondered. He opined that the Centre was making the issue of water distribution political.
He claimed Sindh Revenue Board’s tax collection stood at 21 percent, more than that of the Federal Board of Revenue which stood at 17 percent.
He regretted that the Sindh government was not consulted prior to the announcement of projects for the province.
“We were given the projects we did not need at all,” Murad said, and added, “Truth of the matter is that these projects were imposed on us. At least Centre could ask us as to what kind of projects we require.”—INP
