KARACHI: Not only has the federal government started curtailing funds for development projects in Sindh over the years, it is also not even giving the full amount it promised earlier, Sindh finance minister Murad Ali Shah informed the provincial assembly on Tuesday while responding to queries by lawmakers during the question hour, which pertained to the finance department.

Responding to a question by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement`s Heer Ismail Soho regarding the federal funding for projects, the minister said that in 2009-10 the federal government had allocated over Rs25 billion for various projects in Sindh while in the current year only Rs9.5 billion was allocated by the Centre forprojectsintheprovince,adecreaseofover Rs15bn in the past few years.

Similarly, of the over Rs25bn the federal government had provided only Rs18bn in 2009-10, while so far it had only provided around Rs4.4bn of the promised Rs9.5bn, showing that not only the amount committed had shrunl< over the years but even the promised amount was not being provided fully, he added.

Answering another of her questions if the issue of less payments had been raised with the federal government, the minister said theSindh government had raised the issue with the Centre at almost all available forums and had also written letters to Islamabad pointing out that less funds were given to Sindh and that Sindh`s share in federally funded development projects be increased.

Responding to a query by the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional`s Nusrat Sehar Abbasi that if the government employees/ contractors were being forced to open accounts in the Sindh Bank and if that was being done under a policy, the minister said it was not a Sindh government policy to force employees or contractors to open accounts in the SB.

The bank, like many other banks, might be doing that on its own to increase its market share and business base.

The PML-Nawaz`s Sorath Thebo said that former local bodies minister Sharjeel Memon had once stated in the assembly that civic agency employees had been directed to open their accounts in the SB, Mr Shah said the local bodies department might have taken that step on its own. Besides, it was done to cleanse the civic agencies and flush out ghost employees.

In a written reply to a question by MQMlegislator Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan if the Sindh government had issued a notification or instructions to different government departments to shift their accounts to the SB, theSindh government had raised the issue with the Centre at almost all available forums and had also written letters to Islamabad pointing out that less funds were given to Sindh and that Sindh`s share in federally funded development projects be increased.

Responding to a query by the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional`s Nusrat Sehar Abbasi that if the government employees/ contractors were being forced to open accounts in the Sindh Bank and if that was being done under a policy, the minister said it was not a Sindh government policy to force employees or contractors to open accounts in the SB.

The bank, like many other banks, might be doing that on its own to increase its market share and business base.

The PML-Nawaz`s Sorath Thebo said that former local bodies minister Sharjeel Memon had once stated in the assembly that civic agency employees had been directed to open their accounts in the SB, Mr Shah said the local bodies department might have taken that step on its own. Besides, it was done to cleanse the civic agencies and flush out ghost employees.

In a written reply to a question by MQMlegislator Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan if the Sindh government had issued a notification or instructions to different government departments to shift their accounts to the SB, theminister said such directives were given because the bank was wholly owned by the Sindh government and had an extensive branch network not only in the remote areas of the province but also all over the country and was also providing various value-added services to the government without extra charges. He said that other banks were not willing to offer such personalised service or attention to the government of Sindh accounts or to cater to the government`s requirements.

Responding to a question by Ms Abbasi regarding financial assistance to over 30,000 women in Shikarpur and Kashmore districts, the minister said that over 37,000 poor women were provided financial assistance and many of them were also provided skill-development training in those districts during 2009-10 so that they could supplement their household income.

The project was a success and the government was in the process of replicating it in six more districts, including Mirpurkhas, Umerkot, Sanghar and Thatta.

The minister said that even the European Union was impressed with the results and had offered financial assistance to the Sindh government to expand the project. He said the government was planning to expand the project in eight more districts including Tando Mohammad Khan, Matiari, Dadu, Larkana and Kambar-Shahdadkot.Responding to a question by the MQM`s Kamran Akhtar that if the project area included Karachi, the minister said Karachi was not included in the project areas.

When Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf legislator Khurram Sherzaman asked how the poverty level of a family was evaluated, the minister said it was done according to a score card developed on an international model under which various facilities access to electricity, gas, sewerage, safe drinking water, electronic gadgets etc that a family had were considered and taken as economic indicators based on which the poverty level was evaluated.

Responding to a question by Ms Soho regarding the SB, the minister said it was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the State Bank of Pakistan in 2010 and the Sindh government had provided the equity of Rs10bn and it was its owner and appointed the board of directors, which independently operated the bank, now having some 250 branches in the country.

He said being a financial institution, the SB was regulated by the SECP and SBP.

MQM lawmakers Mohammad Hussain, Waqar Hussain Shah, Irum Farooqui, Sumeta Syed, Naila Muneer; Pakistan Peoples Party legislators Ghazala Sial, Saira Shablani, Khairunnisa Mughal and others also asked questions.