KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, addressing the budget session of the Sindh Assembly, said on Monday the provincial government has raised the minimum wages of labourers from Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000, while the development funds for MPAs have also been increased.
In his speech on the occasion of the approval of the annual budget for 2012-13, he said the provincial assembly has presented a historic budget in which substantial funds have been allocated for health, education, provision of employment and for resolving energy crisis, said a press release issued here.
The chief minister thanked all the coalition parties and their leaders including MQM chief Altaf Hussain, PML-F leader Pir Sahib Pagaro Sabghatullah Shah Rashidi, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali, NPP's leader Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi and PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain for their encouragement and cooperation at every level. Shah said a record allocation of Rs 231 billion has been made in the budget for development programmes.
He further said Rs 39 billion has been earmarked to provide modern facilities and other resources to the police force to maintain law and order. The chief minister stressed the assembly members to ensure strict monitoring for proper utilisation of funds in their respective constituencies so that benefits of development could reach the masses.
He said the provincial government has earmarked special funds in the budget for every district, while substantial funds have also been allocated for Thar Coal project for the generation of electricity.
Shah pointed out that 73 per cent of gas is generated in Sindh, while the province uses only 22 per cent quantity of gas.
He said previous governments are responsible for the prevailing energy crisis as they did not prepare any power generation projects.
The chief minister said all out efforts are being made for the development of Thar Coal project, in which besides local firms, Australian, British and Chinese companies are also making investments.
Shah informed that President Asif Ali Zardari has directed that instead of irrigation water, the Thar Coal project should be supplied with LBOD water. He said, for this purpose, a plant is being installed so that irrigation water could be saved and utilised for agriculture purposes.
The chief minister said when the PPP-led government came into power the situation was very bad which has improved to a great extent.
He said the country's economy is based on agriculture, therefore, the government has accorded priority to the welfare of farmers. He pointed out that bumper yields of cotton, rice and wheat have been recorded in the past four years.
He said all out efforts are being made for creating job opportunities for youths. The chief minister said, under the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Youth Development Programme, over 106000 talented youths have been trained, in which 30,000 youths have been provided jobs on merit in various departments.
He further said the allocation of funds for health and education sectors has been increased by 200 per cent.
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