Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Sunday rebuked accusations leveled against the PTI-led federal government by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and affirmed the center’s commitment to development projects in Sindh.

In a video statement, the federal minister said "I think the chief minister is confused because he is unable to distinguish between the people of Sindh and the government of Sindh. Chief minister, sir, you may be the government of Sindh but you are not the people of Sindh. And we will spend on the people of Sindh, not on the government of Sindh".

Umar said that funds allocated by the center to Sindh in the past were not used for development projects but rather were misused. These funds "resulted in palaces being constructed, diamond necklaces being discovered in Switzerland and towers being constructed in Dubai, and assets being accumulated in France".

Asad Umar said that had Murad Ali Shah waited for the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting to be held on Monday, 7 June, he would have gotten his answers. The federal minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced, within a year of coming into power, two "historic" development packages which cover urban areas as well as rural areas, extending to 18 districts.

Umar was responding to the accusation leveled by Sindh's CM Murad Ali Shah in a letter to the prime minister saying the federal government is treating Sindh in an unfair manner by ignoring development projects proposed by the provincial government.

The chief minister said that before PTI came into power in 2018, 27 schemes with a total allocation of Rs23,387.21 m were part of PSDP for Sindh during the fiscal year 2017-2018. However, after Khan's government, the number of schemes was reduced to 22 with the allocation of 14,266.72m in 2018-19; to 13 schemes of Rs8.508.85m in 20019-20; to 10 schemes with the allocation of Rs8,302m in 2020-21. Only six schemes with a total allocation of Rs5,069.14 million are proposed for the fiscal year 2021-2022.

“As you note above, a grave injustice is being meted out to the people of Sindh ever since the current federal government came into power in August 2018,” Murad wrote in his letter.