Sindh earmarks Rs 6.053 billion for agriculture sector: Murad

The Sindh government has earmarked Rs 6.053 billion for the aggrandisement of agriculture sector including food, livestock and fisheries for FY12. The amount comes to 3.9 percent of the total development outlay. Addressing the post-budget news conference on Saturday at a local hotel, Sindh Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said the government was consulting stakeholders to tax the agriculture income.
He said the next budget allocation for Sindh farmers' facilitation was Rs 1145.506 million. He said the government would continue financing the ongoing schemes, and providing assistance to Sindh farmers for purchase of 3,000 tractors. He said the government had undertaken a project to set up a dairy village and animal meat processing zones in district Thatta on a public private partnership basis.
He said the government also included clean drinking water hubs in the next Annual Development Programme (ADP) to ensure potable water facility for the people. Murad said the government had also released Rs 3, 239 million from the Rs 4060 million the current fiscal year's allocation for the MPA priority programme.
For the next fiscal year allocation, the amount for MPA priority programme has been increased substantially to Rs 7720 million, he added. He said the government had not tagged any new taxes in the next fiscal year's surplus budget of Rs 882.06 million with estimated outlay of Rs 457.54 billion against the budget estimates of Rs 422.25 billion of the current fiscal year.
The total receipts of Sindh for FY12 have been estimated at Rs 458.42 billion against Rs 397.09 billion of the current fiscal year, the maintained. He said the total transfers of Rs 312.07 billion were expected from the federal government with a surge of 18.1 percent.
He said the provincial tax and non-tax receipts for the fiscal year 2011-12 were being estimated at Rs 79.90 billion with an increase of 5.82 percent over the budget estimates of Rs 75.50 billion for the current fiscal year. "It includes Rs 25 billion on account of GST on services," Murad added.
He said the current revenue expenditure was estimated at Rs 283.14 billion for next fiscal year with an increase of 5.54 percent over the current fiscal year's allocations of Rs 268.26 billion. Regarding the Public Sector Development Programme, the minister said the total development outlay for FY12 was estimated at Rs 161 billion, which included Rs 20 billion of the ADP for district governments.
He said the estimated provincial development expenditure of Rs 141 billion included Rs 111 billion from provincial own resources, Rs 10.7 billion through ADP assisted flood emergency reconstruction project, Rs 9.4 billion through other foreign assistance projects and Rs 9.7 billion through the federal grants.
He said the government had proposed Rs 135.17 million with an increase of 11.86 percent for the local governments in the budget. He said the government had fixed the size of schedule of new expenditure (SNE) for the next fiscal year at Rs 3.538 billion, which was 4.37 percent lower as compared to the SNE of Rs 3.7 billion for the current fiscal year.
Murad said the government was eyeing to generate 17000 new jobs in next fiscal year. He said 3897 new jobs would be generated in the provincial government departments and more than 13,000 jobs in the district governments, of which 8414 jobs in education, 4,283 in health and 130 in revenue (district Kambar-Shahdadkot).
The minister said the government had proposed Rs 26.2 billion for the education sector (schools, colleges, technical education and medical education), which was 15 percent greater in size than the total allocation of Rs 22.8 billion of the current fiscal year. He added the government had earmarked Rs 1.7 billion for school specific matching grant for district governments.
The government, he said, was creating 8,414 new jobs for teachers in the education sector of the province in the district governments. He said the government had allocated Rs 7.383 billion under Sindh Education Reform Programme (SERP) in the next budget.
The allocation in breakup: Rs 100 million standardised achievement test, Rs 82 billion for school rehabilitation programme, Rs 1.5 billion for school management committees, Rs 1.33 billion for stipend to girls students and Rs 1.21 billion for free text books, according to the minister. He said the government had proposed Rs 13.89 billion in the fiscal year 2011-12 as compared to Rs 10.83 billion of the current fiscal year, which was greater by 28.25 percent.
He said the allocations for purchase of drugs and medicine for financial year 2011-12 was estimated Rs 1.80 billion at the provincial government level, besides the government had earmarked Rs 11.49 billion for the district governments' healthcare sector. He said the government would create 1059 new posts at the provincial government level and 4,283 new jobs in the district governments in the coming fiscal year.
He said the allocation for justice and courts was Rs 2.49 billion in the next fiscal budget and the government would create 190 new posts in different grades in the law courts (high court and subordinate courts). There is an increase of 44 percent in allocations for GP Fund and pension from Rs 18.684 billion of the current fiscal year to Rs 27.07 billion for the next fiscal year, he added.
The government has allocated Rs 31.46 billion for police department in the next fiscal year with 2.41 percent increase against the allocations of Rs 30.71 billion of the current fiscal year, he maintained. He said the government had discontinued funds for Pakistan Rangers and Frontier Constabulary as separate cost centers.
He said separate allocations had been provided in the Home Department's budget to the essential emergency expenditure of Pakistan Rangers and employee related expenditure for FC to ensure the department's oversight and supervision of functioning of both the paramilitary forces. Murad said the government had earmarked Rs 515 million for Karachi Circular Railway project for Urban Transport Corporation with financial assistance of Japan International Corporation Agency (Jica).