KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Finance Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday presented the provincial budget 2015-16 with total outlay of Rs739 billion in the Sindh Assembly.
As Shah started his speech, he informed the house that the budget documents, in three languages Urdu, Sindh, Englash, have been distributed among the members of the assembly and media persons.
The minister paid rich tributes to Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari. He said that Asif Ali Zardari was following the policy of reconciliation of Benazir Bhutto, adding that Zardari developed consensus on China Pakistan Economic Corridor.
PRIORITY AREAS
Shah while addressing Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani said that the Sindh government’s commitment to the development of Sindh is unfaltering. To continue with the progress in development, the total development outlay for FY 2015-16 is pitched at Rs. 214 billion. Of this Rs. 177 billion will be funded from Provincial Resources, Rs. 9.6 billion will come from grants by the federal government and Rs. 27 billion is estimated to come as Foreign Project Assistance.
Government of Sindh has decided to continue with its policy of allocation of 80% of development funds to the ongoing schemes and only 20% for important new schemes and special initiatives. Moreover, it is ensured that at least 25% of the total cost of the scheme is allocated for each new scheme in the ADP. The number of schemes in ADP has been reduced but the allocations for each scheme have been increased. As a result of this policy, the throw forward of development schemes has been reduced from Rs. 704 billion on 1st July 2014 to Rs. 552 billion on 1st July 2015 by 21.3%.
EDUCATION
Budget Estimates for Current Revenue Expenditure for Education including medical education and technical education have been enhanced from Rs.134.37 billion in CFY to Rs. 144.67 billion for the next year, showing an increase of 7.6 %. This includes grants for universities and educational institutions, which are proposed at Rs.6.12 billion in next budget as against CFY allocation of Rs.5.89 billion.
Besides provincial ADP, Rs.2.616 billion have been allocated for foreign funded projects of education department, which include Sindh Basic Education Program (Rs.2.113 billion; USAID) and upgrading Primary Schools into Elementary Schools in Rural Sindh (Rs.0.5 billion; JICA).
Health
During Current Financial Year, Government of Sindh has allocated Rs. 13.224 billion for 209 development schemes in health sector. The amount released for expenditure in the CFY for health schemes is Rs. 9.641 billion. The next year ADP of Health is pitched at Rs. 13 billion, which includes Rs. 10.063 billion for ongoing schemes and Rs. 2.937 billion for new schemes. This is almost 35% higher than the released amount in CFY.
Grants to Health Institutions
Grants to acclaimed health institutions like SIUT, GIMHS, NICVD, PPHI,Indus Hospital Karachi, Institute of Medical Science Jacobabad and other health institutions has been significantly increased by 105% from Rs.6.46 billion in CFY to Rs.13.26 billion in next FY. This includes new grants of Rs.10 million for kidney Centre, Rs.35 million for LBRT and one time grant of Rs. 2.3 billion for liver transplant at SIUT Sukkur Complex in the next financial year.
Grant for PPHI Sindh has been significantly increased by 19% from Rs. 2.73 billion in CFY to Rs.3.255 billion in next FY to improve primary health care services in rural areas of Sindh.
Transportation projects in Karachi
To fulfill the transportation needs of Karachi, the Karachi Mass Transit Project, with the Circular Railway, 5 Bus Rapid Transit and 2 Metro Rail Transit have been planned for Karachi.
The Government of Sindh will start 5 BRT projects in the next FY 2015-16. These include the Yellow
Line, which passes through Aorangi Industrial Area and terminates at Saddar (Regal). The Orange Line Project connects District West to BRT Green Line at Board Office Chowrangi. The Green Line Project passes through the heart of the city and starts at Municipal Park (Aurangzeb Park) and culminates atKESC Powerhouse.
The Red Line Project will operate in the thickly populated area of Gulshan e Iqbal. The Blue Line Project, starts at Bahria Town and it has two terminating points. One ends at the Airport and the other at MW Tower. The BRT Yellow Line project is under implementation in PPP Mode with an estimated cost of Rs. 13 billion. Its route is 26 km long, and willfacilitate 150,000 commuters per day. The Concession Agreement of the Project will be signed in this month and financial close is expected to beachieved in 3 months.
The government will start physical work on this project by October 2016. The estimated completion time is 18 months. The BRT Orange line Project is being implemented under ADP at a cost of Rs. 2.364 billion. It is 4.7 km long and will facilitate 50,000 daily commuters. We have kept the entire allocation for the project in next year’s ADP. It is expected tocommence in August 2016.
Grants and Subsidies on Food Items
In accordance with the decision of the Sindh High Court, the growers of Sugar Cane were to be given a subsidy of Rs. 12/mds (40kg).
Accordingly,Rs. 5.191 billion subsidy has been released to Agriculture Department for disbursement to the growers through sugar mills after verification of Cane Commissioner Sindh.
In light of the decision of the ECC, subsidy at the rate of Rs. 10/kg was to be given on export of sugar on cost sharing basis, in which, cost of the subsidy was to be borne equally by the Federal Government and the respective Provincial Governments. Rs. 450 million has been given as subsidy by the Government of Sindh on this account.
LAW AND ORDER
Shah told the Speaker, “To strengthen our Law Enforcement Agencies, the overall budget of Police has been increased from Rs. 50.915 billion to Rs. 61.84 billion for FY 2015-16 and similarly, overall budget of Rangers has been increased from Rs. 2.22 billion to Rs. 2.448 billion for FY 2015-16. I salute the personnel of Police and Rangers who have suffered injuries and laid down their lives so that the people can live in peace. Although, there can be no adequate compensation for their act of valor, to recognize their services, compensation cheques of over Rs 500 million have been distributed to the families of Shaheed and injured police personnel. To encourage and support our police, the salaries of Sindh Police have been raised and brought at par with Punjab Police and outstanding performing officers and officials have been granted cash reward in millions of rupees. Rewards have also been approved for the recipients of the Quaid-e-Azam Police Medal (QPM) and President Police Medal (PPM). Further, 100 Police vehicles have been made bullet proof and 35 APC have been upgraded to bomb proof level.”
Measures Planned
A number of measures have been planned to further improve the law & order situation:-
To equip Sindh Police with state of art operational and security equipment such as bullet proof police mobiles, jackets, helmets, arms and ammunition and CCTV cameras, Rs. 4.115 billion were provided to Sindh Police during CFY, whereas, Rs.6.23 billion have been allocatedfor the next financial year.
To strengthen Sindh Police and to address the issue of shortage, 10030 posts have been created in the budget of 2015-16, which will improve police to citizen ratio especially in Karachi and generally in Sindh, at the cost of Rs. 1 billion.
Rs. 2 billion have allocated for the purchase of transport and Rs. 500 million have been earmarked for bullet-proofing of 200 vehicles and bomb-proofing of 100 police vehicles
Rs. 2 billion have been allocated for the purchase of new weapons and other assets for police
Rs. 650 million have been allocated for expansion of security surveillance system and purchase of other equipment for technical advancement of police.
Rs. 250 million have been earmarked for the up gradation and renovation of police training centres.
