Push to expand KMC budget from Rs60bn to 'at least Rs300bn'

KARACHI: Jamaat-i-Islami on Saturday unveiled its shadow budget for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation for 2026-27, calling for the civic body’s proposed allocation to be raised from Rs60 billion to at least Rs300bn, arguing that the current size of the budget was insufficient for the city’s needs.

Speaking at a press conference, Opposition Leader in the City Council Saifuddin Advocate said Karachi, which he put at around 35 million people, could not be run on the proposed outlay. He said the city should receive 100 per cent of motor vehicle tax collections, along with a share in the Infrastructure Cess, Octroi and Zila Tax and the Provincial Finance Commission Award. According to him, these streams, combined with KMC’s own receipts, could take the city’s budget to about Rs300bn.

He also called for development funds to be transferred to towns and union committees, saying each union committee should be allocated at least Rs100m in the next budget. Addressing reporters, he said the KMC remained reliant on provincial transfers despite claims of financial independence and asserted that the corporation’s own portion made up only 20 per cent of its budget. He claimed the civic body generated Rs6bn from its own resources.

Saifuddin Advocate criticised the Pakistan Peoples Party-led Sindh government, alleging that institutions that should fall under the elected city government had been centralised at the provincial level. He said the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation and the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board had separate budgets, but funds assigned to towns and union committees were also being used for their functions.

He further alleged that Karachi’s condition had not improved despite Rs201bn being spent since 2021, including during two years when the city was run by an administrator. He also claimed that the proposed Rs60bn budget would fall victim to corruption and inefficiency and said civic institutions in Karachi had been taken over by the provincial government instead of being devolved to local authorities.

Accompanied by Deputy Parliamentary Leader Junaid Mukati, Maulana Fazal Ahad, Taimur Ahmed and several union committee chairmen and vice-chairmen, the opposition leader also criticised what he described as the continued weakening of the local government system in Karachi. He said a number of civic departments previously overseen by the city government had gradually been shifted to the Sindh government, reducing the authority of elected local representatives.

According to him, water supply and sanitation services as well as solid waste collection had earlier been handled through the city’s local government structure, enabling elected representatives to respond more effectively to residents’ complaints. He said these responsibilities should be returned to the KMC in keeping with the spirit of local government laws and relevant court rulings.

Referring to civic conditions in the city, Saifuddin Advocate said Karachi residents were still dealing with broken roads, poor sanitation, water shortages and weak municipal services despite significant public expenditure in recent years. He said JI would continue to raise these matters in the City Council and press for greater financial and administrative authority for the KMC so it could address the needs of the country’s largest city.