KARACHI: The PTI legislators blamed the Sindh government for the province underdevelopment as the Sindh Assembly opened pre-budget debate on Monday.

Arsalan Taj of the PTI started pre-budget debate which will last for five days, widely held the Sindh government for the bad governance in the province.

The Sindh government again failed to achieve its revenue collection target, he said adding that performance of Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who has also the Sindh Finance Minister portfolio for the last 10 years, is ‘zero’.

He accused Murad of supporting Omni Group, saying that the chief minister has largely overlooked the threat of Covid-19 during the PDM’s political rallies and events.

“Murad Ali Shah has dual standards on Covid-19 (threat),” Arsalan said adding that the benefits of lockdown are fully reaped by the Sindh bureaucracy and police.

PTI lawmaker Adeel Ahmed said the PPP government has been continuing since 2008 but did nothing for the people of province.

PPP’s Zulfiqar Shah appreciated his party’s rule for the uplift schemes approved for Mirpurkhas, saying that the people of Sindh have long demanding for the Sindh nullah, besides NICVD. He also criticized federal government over hours long power cuts in the province.

Speaker Aga Siraj Khan Durrani immediately placed Covid-19 SOPs in the assembly, banning all irrelevant staff and guests from the house galleries.

However, he said, only officials of the Sindh Finance Department will be present during the pre-budget sitting.

He also announced that only 20 percent of the lawmakers from each party will attend the session following the SOPs. The Sindh Assembly will continue debate on Tuesday afternoon.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021