Islamabad:
Legislators in the Upper House on Tuesday asked to provide more relief to the common man and emphasized the need to address growing poverty, national debt, agricultural deterioration and institutional inefficiencies, while reaffirming their support for national defense and unity against regional challenges.
While participating in the general discussion about the 2025-26 budget, Senator Kamran Murtaza said that during each budget year, two types of approaches arise, one focused on the ideological vision and the other aimed at an immediate public relief.
He stressed that the greatest challenge in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan remains the situation of law and order, which requires concrete and sustained measures.
“We are united with our armed forces and we are still faithful to the country,” he said.
Highlighting socio -economic concerns, Senator Murtaza said that almost half of the population faces extreme poverty and lacks access to essential items such as food and medicine.
He emphasized the need to address overpopulation wisely and asked to empower young people through technical education and skills development.
He criticized the budget, citing a decrease in crop yields and the deterioration of the state of agriculture. “Farmers are fighting, and taxes are being collected in those that are already loaded,” he said. He urged the government to review their policies and provide greater relief to disadvantaged.
Senator Saadia Abbasi also expressed reservations on the federal budget, stating that the country faces a multitude of challenges, including commercial imbalances, the impacts of climate change in agriculture, inappropriate infrastructure reforms, poorly managed debt and stagnant industrial growth.
Meanwhile, the debate on the budget proposed by Pakistan for the next fiscal year in the National Assembly intensified on Tuesday when tensions exploded among the members of PPP and MQM.
Shazia Marri of PPP, in his speech, criticized the government’s failure to announce minimum wages for workers and requested a reasonable increase in government wages.
His speech took an unexpected turn when a heated exchange between the members of PPP and MQM broke out, increasing tensions in the assembly.
While Shazia emphasized the importance of Karachi being an integral part of Sindh, soya ishaq of MQM approached the members of the PPP, which led to an intervention by ASEEFA Bhutto, Sahar Kamran and others.
This led to a tense exchange of hard words between both parties. Javed Hanif commented: “You have abandoned Karachi, and now we threaten us.”
