KARACHI – Resuming their discussion on the provincial budget for the next fiscal year in the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday, lawmakers opined that a forceful action against criminals along with cancellation of arms licences for deweaponisaton was only solution to bring back peace in Karachi.Taking pat in the debate, Rana Abdul Sattar, a PML-F parliamentarian, said while the MQM itself was part of the government, its walkout was quite “exceptionable”. Underlining the need for a forceful action against criminals, Sattar demanded that arms licences be cancelled and weapons be submitted with the government under a seven-day deadline. “Afterward, every house in Karachi be searched in order to make the city arms-free,” opined the PML-F leader, saying that “instead of an operation, a surgery was required to restore peace in the city”.The PML-F lawmaker said the slogans of Muhajir province and Sindhu Desh were meant to befool the masses. “Sindh will remain intact forever. If the Urdu-speaking people do not think that they are Sindhis, they should turn back to India.” Speaking about the budget, Sattar said that the town municipal administrations did nothing during the last four years, as all development funds were misappropriated. He said the education and health sectors were on the verge of devastation because doctors were not ready to sit at hospitals and teachers not ready to teach students.“Similarly, the roads damaged during the heavy rainfall last year, have still not been repaired,” he said.Sattar alleged that the rampant corruption devoured nearly 40 per cent of development funds. He also suggested to the government to increase MPAs’ priority funds to Rs100 million from Rs60 million, for each parliamentarian.Thin attendance was witnessed in the House, which was chaired by Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza, during the discussion on the budget.On his turn, Sindh Minister for Transport Akhtar Hussain Jadoon said the country had economically developed due to the reconciliatory policy of President Asif Ali Zardari. Showcasing the achievements of his department, the minister said modern training centres were being established to provide training to drivers. He added that a total of 5,500 diesel-run buses would soon go operational. According to Jadoon, at least 10,000 buses are required to cater to the needs of commuters in Karachi alone. Taking part in the discussion, Syed Manzar Imam of the MQM demanded special package for the town of Orangi. MQM’s MPA Zareen Majeed complained that the present government did not devise any policy to resolve the issue of poverty, energy crisis and inflation in its first four years of the five-year term. She said that inflation was on the rise as the gulf between the rich and the poor was increasing with each passing day. She further said that at least 38 to 40 per cent of the population was still living below the poverty line.Zareen Majeed further said that sincerity to serve the people and good governance were the only solution to all ills. She strongly suggested that all taxable income, including agriculture, should be brought under the tax net.Dr Sikander Shoro of the PPP said the government should establish more health training institutes for welfare of the people.PPP’s Imadad Pitafi appealed to the president and chief minister to take steps for the improvement of the deteriorating education system in the province.MQM’s MPA Muhammad Tahir Qureshi contended that 40 per cent of the ADP allocations were never utilised, and demanded that lapsed funds should be used in other projects.Saleem Khurshid Khokhar said that religious minorities were deprived of basic facilities as they were being treated as second class citizen in Pakistan.