Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
Legislators in the National Assembly on Friday urged the government to focus on people-oriented policies and provide relief to the salaried class, agriculture and Information Technology sectors in budget 2024.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (Pakistan) leader Muhammad Farooq Sattar, while participating in the budget debate, termed the budget for 2024-25 as traditional, reflecting a continuity of policies from the past 77 years.
“The country’s current debt servicing issues, noting that most budget allocations are used for this purpose,” he highlighted. He said, “It is the government’s responsibility to prepare the budget with the public’s issues in mind.” He said, “Unfortunately, every budget seems to favor the wealthy.”
Sattar urged the government to focus on the agriculture sector and criticized the imposition of more taxes on salaried individuals. He called for relief measures for the poor in the budget and asked the government to revise the National Finance Commission Award. He stressed the need to resolve Karachi’s water issues and to allocate more funds to improve the city’s drain system.
He also advocated for more incentives to attract Foreign Direct Investment and for policies that encourage a growth-oriented economy.
Farooq Sattar described the federal budget for 2024-25 as a threat to national sovereignty and security. He criticised the incumbent government for coming up with “a traditional budget maintaining the status quo”. He highlighted the brain drain of skilled workers who are compelled to take odd and blue-collar jobs abroad.
The middle class, he said, faced multiple crises such as electricity, gas, and water shortages, yet they are burdened with high bills. He warned that failure to devise a people-friendly budget could threaten national sovereignty and survival.
He also stressed that businesses were closing down and investment was shrinking. Inflation, he added, had risen from 20pc to 40pc, and unemployment had skyrocketed to 15pc.
The MQM-P leader said the government was making lame excuses of financial constraints as it could help the people in debt if it wanted.
During the National Assembly session, opposition leader and PTI leader Omar Ayub raised the issue of Section 144 imposition across Punjab. He criticised the Punjab government for imposing Section 144 to halt the PTI and its allied party’s plans for a ‘Free Imran Khan’ protest rally.
Ayub condemned the enforcement of Section 144 by the chief minister and IGP, arguing that it violated their rights and affirmed that they were living in a fascist state.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Asia Naz Tanoli said that in 2018, the government solved the issue of load-shedding and that during the PML-N tenure, more funds were allocated for development projects.
