Opposition in Sindh PA rejects budget, assails govt for ‘failing’ to improve civic infrastructure

KARACHI: Opposition members in the Sindh Assembly on Saturday rejected the provincial budget for the upcoming fiscal year, criticizing the government over persistent failures in water supply, electricity, infrastructure, education, and public welfare across the province, particularly in Karachi. Ruling party members, however, defended the fiscal plan as balanced and people-friendly, congratulating Chief Minister Sindh on presenting it under difficult economic conditions.

The second consecutive day of general budget debate saw 40 members take the floor, with the session presided over by Speaker Syed Owais Qadir Shah.

Water supply emerged as the most recurring grievance across the opposition benches. MQM’s Dr Fouzia Hameed said Karachi residents were struggling to access water, with people abandoning religious gatherings to chase water tankers across the city. She said the city simultaneously lacked water, electricity, and gas, and that the budget contained no meaningful program for public welfare. She added that Karachi was not receiving its due share of resources.

MQM’s Ijaz ul Haq said the budget was undemocratic and that his party rejected it outright. He questioned how the opposition could be expected to engage with a budget speech when it had not been consulted during its preparation. He pointed out that funds for the Orangi pumping station had been approved in 2023 but no work had begun since.

PTI’s Sajid Mir said water remained Karachi’s single biggest problem, adding that the K-4 water project had remained incomplete for 26 years. He said Karachi contributed the most revenue to Pakistan yet continued to face injustice in the allocation of resources.

PPP’s Heer Soho, from the treasury benches, also acknowledged water scarcity, saying it was causing serious agricultural damage across the districts of Sujawal, Thatta, Badin, and Tando Muhammad Khan.

PTI’s Rehan Bandukra said his constituency endured power outages lasting up to 16 hours. He said funds were repeatedly set aside in budgets for projects in his area but no work was carried out on the ground. He said Karachi stood at a critical juncture and that it was up to the government to decide where it intended to take the city.

PPP’s Agha Shahbaz Durani, while supporting the budget, acknowledged that the federal government had failed to supply electricity to Ghari Yasin and that prolonged load-shedding was seriously affecting hospitals.

MQM’s Abdul Basat said corruption was rampant across Sindh and questioned whether the anti-corruption body was capable of curbing it. He alleged that a single official had embezzled more than Rs8 billion from the BRT Red Line project and asked where the funds officially recorded as spent on Karachi’s development had actually gone.

PTI’s Sajjad Sumro said a provincial minister had himself alleged Rs20 billion in corruption within his own department. He said water supply in Lyari had been cut off and that despite raising the area’s problems in the assembly for three years, no one had taken notice. He remarked that if a FIFA World Cup were ever hosted in Lyari, there would not even be water in the washrooms.

MQM’s Farah Sohail said children between four million and eight million remained out of school despite 18 consecutive years of the same government in power. She said the budget continued to grow year after year but public problems remained unresolved. She argued that better governance required consultation and accountability, not majority numbers alone.

PTI’s Sajid Mir said educated young people in Sindh were wandering without jobs despite holding university degrees.

MQM’s Naseer Ahmed said the Mayor of Karachi was seen moving around the city’s streets yet civic problems remained unresolved. MQM’s Bilquis Mukhtar spoke at length about Karachi’s neglect, expressing regret that the city’s issues were not being addressed.

MQM’s Faheem Patni said ruling members were themselves lamenting problems in the province, which gave a measure of what had happened in Sindh over the past 18 years.

Ruling PPP members pushed back firmly against the criticism. PPP’s Maliha Manzoor said provincial budgets had been squeezed by the Federal Board of Revenue’s underperformance, with Sindh facing a shortfall of Rs250 billion and the total provincial shortfall across the country exceeding Rs600 billion. She criticized the opposition for protesting before the budget was even presented and alleged that some members had sought a governorship in exchange for supporting it.

PPP’s Marvi Rashdi said the opposition had wronged its own constituents by boycotting the Chief Minister’s speech without hearing it. She said the Sindh government had rendered outstanding services for the province’s development and that law and order in Sindh was in excellent shape, though she called for strict punishment for those involved in the drug trade.

PPP’s Nida Khuhro said the government had completed 900 projects despite floods and inflation, provided funds to major hospitals serving hundreds of thousands of patients, and praised the 1122 emergency service in Karachi.

PPP’s Samita Afzal Said said the opposition criticized only to generate headlines, adding that Karachi now enjoyed peace and that Sindh offered health facilities good enough to draw patients from other provinces.

PPP’s Khurram Karim Sumro said the government had recruited 90,000 teachers without discrimination and that a nursing college was being established in Tando Muhammad Khan for the first time. PPP’s Dr. Sikandar Shoro said the opposition had protested against the budget even before it was presented but remained silent whenever Sindh’s rights were at stake.

PPP’s Hina Dastgir said Sindh consistently allocated the highest funds to education and health among all provinces. PPP’s Yusuf Baloch described the budget as people-friendly and praised Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon for providing pink buses and scooties to women, adding that Lyari had been transformed with Rs25 billion in projects approved by Bilawal Bhutto.

Other treasury members, including Peer Mujeeb ul Haq, Agha Shahbaz Durani, Rehana Leghari, Ali Ahmed Jan, Makhdoom Fakhrul Zaman, Zubair Junejo, Jam Shabbir, Dost Ali Rahimoon, and Arbab Amanullah, raised various local development demands while broadly supporting the budget. The session was adjourned until 10am on Sunday.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026