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       KARACHI: The third day of the post-budget debate in the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday was marked by a sharp exchange of satirical verses by the treasury and opposition lawmakers, overshadowing the discussion on the provincial government’s financial plan for 2025-26.

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       The poetic barbs and pinching remarks by the members from the two sides of the aisle added a layer of tension to the proceedings as Acting Speaker had to intervene to ease out the situation several times in a thinly-attended house.

       Despite the heated discussion, the members, mainly from opposition benches, highlighted the issues of shortage of healthcare facilities, schools and water supply and poor road infrastructure in their respective constituencies.

       The total number of members who made budget speeches during the past three days has reached 84, and more members are likely to participate in the budget discussion on Thursday.

       Lawmakers raise problems of infrastructure in constituencies

       The treasury members described the provincial budget as an “important milestone” towards development and solving public problems in Sindh, while opposition members harshly criticised the budget.

       The opposition members praised the Punjab’s budget, with a member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan saying that was why people wished to have a chief minister like Maryam Nawaz in Sindh too.

       Opening the debate with only nine opposition and as many treasury lawmakers in the house at the outset of the proceeding, Culture Minister Syed Zulfiqar Shah said several projects were being carried out for the development of Gorakh Hill so that people could go there with their families and enjoy the natural views.

       He also said that the culture department would train new artists and send them all over the world. “We are also trying to establish a colony for writers and poets,” he said.

       The minister said that the Gorakh Hill Authority received Rs250 million every year.

       MQM-P’s Farhan Ansari said that Karachi had once again been ignored in the budget. “There is neither electricity nor water in Gulshan-i-Iqbal,” he deplored.

       He said that road carpeting and street lights were said to be provided in his constituency, but there were no signs of any development on the ground.

       PPP’s Mahmood Alam Jamot from Ibrahim Hyderi demanded that a boat ambulance service be started for fishermen. “A sewage treatment plant should be set up in my constituency as well,” he further demanded.

       Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-backed Sunni Ittehad Council member Sajjad Soomro said that six million children were out of school in the province, while two trillion rupees had been spent on education during the PPP era. “A new Sindh could have been built with such a budget,” he added.

       Dr Abdul Basit of the MQM-P said that in the last budget, a senior citizen card was announced, but not a single card was received.

       PPP member Qasim Siraj Soomro said that the condition of schools in his constituency, Nagar Parkar, was better and there were many doctors and engineers in this constituency. “There are 56 small dams in Thar,” he added.

       The PPP MPA said that many RO plants in his area were not in good condition and they needed to be fixed.

       MQM-P’s Qurat-ul-Ain said that this was not a people-friendly budget. “Inflation is out of control in Karachi, people are worried about loadshedding,” she said.

       She said that Landhi Medical College was included in the budget books every year and demanded that now it should be made.

       Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2025