KARACHI: Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that the province had been neglected in the development budget of the federal government, according to a handout.

He said that from looking at the projects that had been earmarked for other provinces and those that had been earmarked for Sindh in the development budget of the federal government, it became clearhow Sindh had been neglected.

He said that the media should ask the representatives of the federal government why Sindh had been ignored in the federal development budget and why they did not talk about important issues of Sindh.

Power utilities condemned for loadshedding While strongly condemning the K-Electric, he said that the way KE had started unannounced loadshedding in the metropolis it had made people`s lives miserable.

He demanded that the KE immediately end the unannounced loadshedding.

He also slammed the HyderabadElectric Supply Company (Hesco) and Sukkur Electric Supply Company (Sepco) and demanded that both the power utilities immediately end unannounced loadshedding, as it was causing immense distress to the people.

`How can we convince people to notgooutoftheirhousesunnecessarily in the time of coronavirus pandemic when there is no electricity in their home?` he asked.

He said that the KE had assured the Sindh government that it would not carry out loadshedding during the lockdown, but there were numerous complains of unannounced loadshedding and the chief minister would talk to KE again.The minister said that whenever the Sindh government made any suggestion regarding KE, the federal government immediately started saying that the Sindh government had no authority in this regard.

Special focus on health sector in budget He said on the special directives of PPP chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari, the CM had given priority to the health sector over all other sectors in the budget for the next financial year.

He said that most of the new schemes announced for the next financial year were related to thehealth sector.

He said that the Sindh government was constantly striving to improve the health sector in the province.

Mr Shah said that those who were criticising the Sindh government should first come and inspect the health facilities here themselves and then comment.

He said that the difference between Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital and Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation was that a patient did not have to pay a single penny for his treatment at the SIUT.

He said that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Prime Minister Imran Khan when in opposition never tired of praising the 18th Amendment and the NFC Award, but today when they were in the federal government they had starting to feel bad about these.

He said that the Sindh government had been very serious about preventing the spread of the coronavirus from day one, and from the very beginning the Sindh government was of the view that there was no other way but an effective lockdown that could prevent the spread of the virus.

He added that no one took the suggestions of the Sindh government seriously. The responsibility of the federal government seemed to be limited to criticism only, while in contrast, the Sindh government believed in serving the people.

`If the federal government had taken it seriously, we would have almost got rid of the coronavirus pandemic today,` he said.

Grieved over demise of Talib Jauhari The information minister expressed his deep sorrow and grief over the demise of renowned religious scholar and orator Allama Talib Jauhari.

In his condolence message, he said that the scholarly and religious services of Allama Talib Jauhari would always be remembered.

He said that a chapter of knowledge ended with his demise.

The minister also expressed deep sorrow and grief over the demise of Mohammad Aslam Jinnah, who is said to be a grandson ofQuaid-i-AzamMohammad Ali Jinnah and on the demise of renowned educationist Nisar Ahmed Siddiqui.