KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the growth shown in the national economy by the federal government was an eye wash, had the economy had shown the growth the federal government would have not revised its allocations.

"We are facing a shortfall of Rs82 billion in federal transfers, therefore our entire budgetary commitments have been affected badly."

This he said on Monday while addressing a crowded press conference here at CM House. He was flanked by provincial ministers, Ismail Rahu, Imtiaz Shaikh and Nasir Shah.

Shah said that the majority of taxes were collected by the federal government and then they transfer the share to the provincial governments as per agreed formula.

The federal government claims that the national economy has shown growth, he said and added that had the economy been showing the growth the FBR targets would have not been revised. "The FBR had a target of Rs4.89 trillion collection but they failed and then the government revised the target to Rs4.71 trillion," he said.

The CM said that the FBR has shown a growth of 17 percent during the last three years, but the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) has shown a growth of 21 percent. "Our growth rate is four percent higher than the FBR," he said and added that he was criticising the performance of the FBR because their failure to achieve the targets affected the provincial share in the revenue.

Murad Ali Shah said that the Sindh government was told that it would be given Rs742 billion from divisible pool and straight transfers and we had framed our budget accordingly. At the end of day, the federal government revised Sindh government share from Rs742 billion to Rs680 billion that caused a Rs62 billion shortfall just in revision. He added that during the last 11 months, the Sindh government was faced with Rs82.5 billion shortfall of its share.

The chief minister said that 11 years have passed since the last NFC award and the federal government has failed to work out a new award. "The government has appointed a new federal finance minister [Shaukat Tarin] who was the architect of the last NFC award," he said and added it was surprising that the [federal] finance minister who had worked out the last NFC award was acceptable to the PTI government but his award was not acceptable to them.

He said that the PTI government has always been criticising the NFC award. "The problem is not with the award but it is with the revenue recoveries in which FBR has been failing under the present government, therefore along with the provinces, the federal government is facing financial problems," he said.

PSDP: Talking about the federal PSDP, the chief minister said that Sindh was given those projects which were not required. "In 2020-21 PSDP the federal government had allocated Rs9.7 billion for different schemes in Sindh but they could utilise only Rs500 million," he said and added that the provincial government was not consulted when its projects were included in PSDP.

He said that the development projects were always conceived on the ground, but the federal government was giving projects directly and executing them through Pak PWD. "These direct projects would not be in duplication but would cause corruption," he said.

Shah said that the federal government was alleging that the provincial government had no capacity to implement development projects, therefore they [fed govt] were directly implementing the project. "I want to remind you the detractors that the Sindh government has constructed highways such as Hyderabad-Mirpurkhas Road, Karachi-Thatta and various others on PPP mode and has also constructed bridges on River Indus."

Census: Talking about the census, the chief minister said that he had submitted a defection note in CCI when it was approved. "I have referred the matter to the parliament and a joint session would be called to discuss the matter," he said.

He said that the family size of households in Sindh has been shown less than the other provinces. Had the actual family size of households in Sindh been counted the population of the province would have been more than 62 million. "Since, our population has been curtailed under the defective census, therefore our share in the national resources has also come down," he said.

Water: Murad Ali Shah said that he was not accusing any province of stealing water but his grievance was against the federal government which did not allow the IRSA to implement the 1991 water accord in true letter and spirit.

He said that the water shortage in respect of 1991 accord in the Punjab during the month of May 2021, on the basis of 10 dailies, was recorded at 20.27 percent in the first 10-daily, 5.08 percent in the second 10 daily, 10.23 percent in the third 10-daily. In Sindh during the first daily water shortage was recorded at 34.5 percent, 39.8 percent during the second 10-daily and 40.27 percent during the third 10-dailies.

Shah said that during June 1 to 10, Sindh and Balochistan faced a 35 percent shortage and Punjab faced 23 percent shortage while KP received 38 percent more water than its share. "We are of the view that the shortages should be shared equally as per water accord," he said and added the Attorney General of Pakistan in his report on 1991 accord had endorsed the point of view of the Sindh government.

"I am surprised in this entire scenario IRSA is silent but the federal government through its inspectors was trying to inspect our water. Our grievance is very simple that the distribution of water is being made in violation of the 1991 accord," he said and added the issue was legal and technical, but the federal government was trying to make it a political issue.

Steel Mill: The chief minister criticising the federal government said that instead of reviving the steel mill it was closing it. "You are laying off all those employees who were appointed by the PPP government," he said.

Gas shortage: Murad Ali Shah said that Sindh was facing gas shortage which was also a violation of Article 158 of the constitution. "The constitution under article 158 gives priority to the people of the area from where gas is produced but this is not happening here," he said and added whenever he has talked about the issues of the province he is accused of playing Sindh card. He said that being chief executive of the province it was his duty to protect the rights of the people of the province.

Shah said Hydel profits were given to the KP and he had always been supporting it because it was constitutional but "when we talk about our rights, we are accused of promoting provincialism", he was surprised and termed it double standard and said that Sindh has been slaughtered economically.

Sindh police: Giving an oblique reference of Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry's press conference in which he had strongly criticised the Sindh police, the chief minister said he had no right to make mockery of the policemen who sacrificed their lives in the line of their duty and restored law and order in the city.

He said that during the last three years 81 policemen, including 45 in Karachi, 36 in Sukkur and Hyderabad regions have laid their lives in line with their duty. "It is the Sindh police which have fought against outlaws, terrorists, dacoits, land mafia and drug mafia and restored law and order in the province, particularly in the city," he said and added Karachi was 7th most dangerous city in the crime index of the world and now it has come down to 198th.

"This the performance of the Sindh police and you [Fawad Ch] are trying to demoralise the police," he said and added, "you [Fawad Ch] had hurt the families of police 'shuhada' by denying their sacrifice. The police in collaboration with rangers and other agencies have shown a commendable performance which must be lauded, he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021