Sindh has beaten the Centre while providing relief to the government employees proposing to raise their salaries by up to 12 percent and pensions by eight percent as Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah unveiled the provincial budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs3,451.87 billion.
Presenting the budget in the Sindh Assembly on Friday, CM Murad said grade 1 to 16 employees will get raise of 12 percent in their salaries while grade 17 to 22 will get 10 percent increase. The Sindh government will spend Rs520 billion on development projects during next fiscal year, he added.
It may be mentioned here that Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb while presenting the federal budget on last Monday in the National Assembly had announced an increase of 10 percent in the salaries of government employees while seven percent jump in pensions.
According to the Sindh chief minister, the Annual Development Program (ADP) for the province has been increased from Rs493 billion to Rs520 billion, while Sindh has allocated a total of Rs411 billion for 16 different departments in the proposed budget.
As per the proposed budget documents, Rs 25.8 billion has been allocated for the Works and Services Department, Rs 7.5 billion for the Finance Department, Rs 54 billion for the Transport and Mass Transit Department, Rs 33.9 billion for the Irrigation Department, Rs 3.9 billion for the Agriculture Supply and Price Department.
Rs1.2 billion for the Energy Department, Rs260.7 billion for the Health Department, Rs 54.5 billion for the Local Government Department, Rs 14.7 billion for the Planning and Development Department, Rs 2.6 billion for the Investment Department, Rs 105.7 billion for the SGSE & CD Department, Rs 8.5 billion for the Livestock and Fakhri Department and Rs 12.2 billion for the Soshik Protection Department has been proposed.
In a major boost to the education sector, Rs523.73 billion allocated for education in the upcoming fiscal year. The breakdown includes: Rs156.20 billion for primary education, Rs42.70 billion for middle/elementary education, Rs77.20 billion for secondary education, Rs39.53 billion for college education, Rs500 million for college building repairs, Rs500 million for scholarships to students studying in foreign universities, Rs2 billion for the Sindh Endowment Fund, Rs1.40 billion to improve Cadet Colleges, and Rs18.50 billion for the financial stabilization of primary schools.
To enhance the province’s higher education infrastructure, Rs500 million have been allocated for the construction and renovation of college buildings, while another Rs 500 million have been earmarked for scholarships for students at universities.
In total, Rs42 billion have been proposed to support 31 public universities and nine autonomous institutions across Sindh. Additionally, Rs800 million will be distributed among press clubs, bar associations, and journalistic organisations.
