The Sindh Assembly on Wednesday passed Rs 1.218 trillion of next fiscal budget 2019-20 with a majority vote despite opposition's rejection with a protest. The budget, which envisages minimum wages of Rs 17,500 per month for the labour class, stands zero-deficit financial plan for 2019-20 with Rs 12.3 billion allocation for Social Protection and Poverty Reduction Programme. It also announces 15 percent salaries increase for the government's employees on an ad hoc basis.
Countering the climate change in the face of deforestation, the next financial budget earmarks Rs 1 billion for tree plantation and growing green shield in the coming years. Similarly, it allocates Rs 2 billion for police compensation package scaling up the amount for shaheed and wounded personnel from Rs5 million to Rs 10 million.
During the session, the government also got 159 supplementary grants approved amounting over Rs 1.186 trillion and voted out opposition's 543 cut motions.
The opposition sought cuts in the budget expenditures after the province is short of funds.
"This fiscal year, we have saved Rs7 billion and will continue the austerity efforts ahead," Chief Minister Sindh, Syed Murad Ali Shah, who also holds the Sindh Finance Minister portfolio, told the house while rejecting the cut motions. He assured the legislator that the Sindh government will prioritise the public interest on financial spending.
Earlier, the legislators sought God's help to fight the attack of pests on the crops in parts of Sindh. Speaker Sindh Assembly, Aga Siraj Khan Durrani also sought the federal government's intervention to help the province fight the locust assault, saying that the pest flew as nature's punishment from Balochistan to Sindh.
Responding to this natural epidemic, Durrani said that the federal government should help the provinces. He claimed the pest attack caused huge losses to the farmers. Sindh Agriculture Minister, Ismail Raho said that locust attack made inroads into Sindh through Balochistan from Iran that struck Sanghar and Khairpur and other areas. He called it as 'the biggest' attack, seeking Suparco's help for spraying insecticides.
The minister told the provincial assembly that "emergency efforts are under way through video conferencing in every district," saying that the Suparco has only one operative airplane which is engaged in Balochistan spraying insecticides.
PPP's Nadir Magsi said that it is a sensitive issue, which the pest big attack has inflicted on the farmers, and needs a proper response since one airplane cannot handle the crisis alone. Chief Minister Sindh also assured the house of stepping up efforts to end the pest attack.
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