Calling for stoppage of activities based on political revenge the opposition in Sindh Assembly came with a mixed response to the provincial budget for 2008-09 presented by Sindh Chief Minster Syed Qaim Ali Shah in the house on Monday.
Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Jam Madad Ali of Pakistan Muslim League-Q while slamming the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) led government for its attitudinal discrepancies before and after Febrary-18 elections, hailed some of its budgetary steps.
Jam said that was the same PPP who had constantly been creating disturbances during budget sessions for the last five years but the new budget was presented with the same issue of National Finance Commission award peacefully.
He went on to say that PPP, when in opposition, used to cry for being taken on-board in a pre-budget preliminary meeting but now while it was in the government even many of the treasury members were taken into confidence on the new budget.
Terming raise in the salaries of government employees as good he said it was however yet to see to what extent the increase was in accordance with the inflation.
On doubling the Rs 5 million funds for members of provincial assembly (MPAs) under Priority Program, the opposition leader said the funds should have been allocated for the welfare of inflation-stricken poor people of the province. Terming an upsurge in the budgetary allocations for education and health sectors as "useless" Jam said that on the one hand PPP government had ordered the districts to stop all such schemes, which had reached a 25 percent completion level and was increasing funds on the other.
He claimed that the Sindh government on the basis of political revenge was transferring teachers to far-flung areas where they were hardly able to perform their duties.
Demanding the Sindh government for immediately withdrawing its order the PML-Q leader said all the education schemes which were already in place, should be allowed to be carried on. "We respect the mandate the people have given to the People's Party due to Benazir's martyrdom but it should stop the traditional behaviour of political revenge," demanded Madad Ali when asked for his demands to the PPP led government.
Later Sindh Minister for Information Shazia Marri said that those who had supported non-democratic forces in the past were talking of democratic norms today which could not be acceptable.
When a questioner drew her attention towards opposition's reservations on her government's measures on the education sector, the minister said her counterparts from opposition benches were perhaps unaware of the importance of education and reforming the police department.
The two fields she said were vital in terms of people's development and an improved law and order situation. Marri however refused to comment further on the budget saying that she would elaborate upon the fiscal document in a post-budget press briefing on Tuesday.
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