June 27th, 2026
By Iqra Manzoor
Lahore
The Sindh government has unveiled a Rs3.562 trillion tax-free budget for the fiscal year 2026–27, presenting it as a budget of relief, development and public welfare amid inflation, post-flood reconstruction and growing fiscal pressures. Presenting the budget in the Sindh Assembly, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah announced that no new taxes would be imposed, while the government would continue prioritising social sectors, public services and ongoing development projects.
However, a comparison of this year’s budget with the previous fiscal year’s allocations presents a more nuanced picture. While overall allocations for sectors such as education, health, transport and law and order have increased, development spending under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) has declined across several sectors closely linked to human rights, raising questions about how effectively these commitments will translate into improved services for citizens.
The provincial government has allocated Rs72.750 billion for development during FY2026–27. Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah reportedly said the reduction in development spending was necessitated by fiscal constraints, inflation, rising fuel costs and the province’s agreement to contribute Rs260 billion to the federal government for national strategic requirements under a negotiated constitutional arrangement. Instead of introducing new projects, the government has decided to focus on completing 2,056 ongoing development schemes.
Education remains the largest social sector
Education continues to receive the largest share of provincial spending, with the Sindh government allocating Rs601 billion for the sector—an increase of Rs57 billion over the previous year. The government says the allocation reflects its commitment to improving access to quality education, upgrading schools and strengthening higher education.
Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah also announced Rs18.67 billion under the School-Specific Budget initiative, while stating that 34,000 of Sindh’s approximately 40,000 schools have now been converted into cost centres to give schools greater financial autonomy.
At the same time, development allocations tell a different story. Under the Annual Development Programme, education development spending stands at Rs25.86 billion, while budget documents show the broader development allocation for Education Affairs and Services has declined to Rs52.5 billion, compared with Rs100.7 billion in FY2025–26.
The reduction comes as Sindh continues to face one of Pakistan’s largest education crises, with millions of children remaining out of school, significant gender disparities in enrolment, flood-damaged schools and persistent infrastructure shortages.
Former Chairperson of the Sindh Commission on the Status of Women, Nuzhat Shirin, questioned whether the budget addresses these structural barriers.
“There is no improvement in the budget; in fact, things have deteriorated,” she told Voicepk. She argued that provincial budgets remain largely “gender blind” and fail to address practical barriers preventing girls from accessing education, particularly in rural areas. Recalling a visit to a village where girls could not continue their education after Grade 5 because no transport was available, she said that expanding education requires investments beyond school buildings, including safe mobility and access.
Health allocation rises, but development spending falls
The health sector’s development allocation stands at Rs38.9 billion in FY2026–27, compared with Rs45.4 billion in FY2025–26, indicating a decline in development spending despite continued pressure on public healthcare services.
Within the Annual Development Programme (ADP), Rs17.43 billion has been allocated for health affairs and services. The government has announced continued expansion of hospitals, trauma care facilities and specialised medical services. However, experts continue to point to persistent challenges, including shortages of medicines, weak primary healthcare systems and limited access in rural Sindh.
Social protection remains central
Social protection (including district ADP) continues to receive one of the largest development allocations in the budget. The government has earmarked Rs13.2 billion under its social protection package, supporting programmes including the Sindh Peoples Support Programme, Benazir Hari Card, Benazir Housing initiatives, assistance for persons with disabilities, women agricultural workers, widows, orphans, small farmers and enterprise financing.
The budget also continues support for post-flood housing recovery. According to the government, more than one million houses have already been completed while over 1.6 million houses are under construction with support from international financing.
However, budget documents indicate that total development allocations under Social Protection have declined to Rs327.3 billion, compared with a revised allocation of Rs425.2 billion in FY2025–26.
Women’s rights activist and journalist Mahnaz Rahman said evaluating the human rights dimension of the budget requires looking beyond a single allocation.
“The Sindh budget does not contain a single, clearly identified human rights allocation,” she told Voicepk. “Expenditures relevant to human rights are spread across education, health, women development, minority affairs, disability support, labour welfare, social protection, climate resilience and disaster management.”
She said that while these sectors continue receiving allocations, the key question is whether the funding is sufficient to address Sindh’s persistent challenges, including gender-based violence, child protection, access to education and healthcare, labour rights, minority rights, disability inclusion and climate vulnerability.
Climate and environmental protection
Environmental protection receives comparatively limited attention in the development budget despite Sindh remaining one of Pakistan’s most climate-vulnerable provinces.
Budget documents show allocations for Environmental Protection declining to Rs541 million, compared with Rs1.018 billion in FY2025–26.
The government has nevertheless announced new climate-related initiatives, including an Integrated Waste-to-Value and Circular Economy Programme, designed to convert waste into reusable resources, reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, generate carbon credits and create thousands of green jobs.
The budget also introduces the Energy Security and Solar Empowerment Initiative, which aims to distribute 275,000 free solar home systems to low-income households while offering subsidised solar financing for middle-income families. The initiative also includes renewable energy infrastructure and the development of a Sindh Green Data Infrastructure Initiative to attract global investment in renewable-powered data centres.
Economic Affairs
The estimate for economic affairs for FY2026–27 has been proposed at Rs182.3 billion, compared with Rs280 billion in FY2025–26, which was later revised to Rs271.8 billion. Officials say this reflects broader fiscal adjustments across development and operational spending due to constrained fiscal space.
Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said the reduction in development expenditure would be absorbed across all components due to fiscal constraints, rising defence and strategic spending, and global economic pressures, including energy price volatility and increased costs of service delivery. He added that despite these pressures, the government had “protected priority development projects and essential public services that directly affect the lives of our people.”
Transport and infrastructure
The government has allocated Rs185 billion for the Transport and Communication Department, describing it as the highest allocation in the department’s history. Officials say the funding will support new bus routes, completion of Bus Rapid Transit corridors, expansion of public transport services and the launch of an electric vehicle taxi service.
Within the ADP, Rs39.5 billion has been allocated for transport and communication projects, including Rs13.2 billion for the Red Line BRT and more than Rs3.5 billion for the Yellow Line BRT.
For Karachi, the government has earmarked Rs108.1 billion for development projects, including Rs5 billion for the Lyari Transformation Package, more than Rs32 billion for the Greater Karachi Sewerage Plan and Rs5.53 billion for rehabilitation of internal roads.
Agriculture and livelihoods
Agriculture remains central to Sindh’s economy. The government has allocated Rs6.12 billion for agriculture development under the ADP, including Rs4.714 billion for agriculture department components and Rs1.4129 billion for livestock.
Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah announced a Rs20 billion wheat support package and said more than 336,000 farmers cultivating over two million acres had received assistance through the Benazir Hari Card, with Rs43.23 billion transferred directly to growers.
The government has also announced the Sindh Farmers’ Agricultural Collectives Initiative, aimed at enabling small farmers to access machinery, finance, storage facilities and markets collectively while retaining ownership of their land.
Law and order
The budget allocates Rs222 billion for law and order, including policing, Safe City initiatives, counterterrorism capacity and modern law enforcement infrastructure. The Chief Minister also highlighted targeted anti-dacoit operations in the Kacha areas, supported by Rs872 million, as one of the province’s major achievements.
Yet Nuzhat Shirin argued that larger allocations alone do not guarantee better protection of human rights.
She pointed to the continued incidence of honour killings and questioned whether police departments receive adequate gender-sensitive training or whether sufficient resources are allocated for effective implementation. She also criticised weak institutional capacity in women complaint cells and child protection services, arguing that many initiatives fail to reach rural communities where violations are most common.
Economic pressures shape the budget
The government maintains that the budget attempts to balance fiscal discipline with public welfare.
Relief measures include a 7 per cent increase in salaries and pensions, an increase in the minimum monthly wage from Rs40,000 to Rs43,000, reduced sales tax on education support services, lower tax rates for insurance agents and brokers, and continued tax concessions for overseas employment services.
Officials also announced Rs109 billion for Public-Private Partnership projects, Rs48 billion in university grants and the establishment of the Sindh International Financial Centre to attract investment in infrastructure, housing, energy, technology and climate resilience.
Human rights beyond allocations
For rights advocates, however, the debate extends beyond budgetary figures.
Shirin argued that budgets continue to overlook structural barriers affecting women, rural communities and vulnerable groups. She criticised weak implementation, poor utilisation of allocated funds and the absence of long-term planning in sectors such as education, climate adaptation and gender-based violence prevention.
Rahman similarly emphasised that budget analysis should focus not only on allocations but also on adequacy, transparency, accountability and implementation.
“The real measure of the budget will be whether these allocations translate into tangible improvements in people’s lives,” she said.
As Sindh enters another fiscal year under mounting economic pressure, the budget reflects a continuing attempt to balance social protection with constrained fiscal space. Whether its commitments on education, healthcare, social protection, climate resilience and public services translate into tangible improvements will depend less on allocation size and more on implementation, transparency and the ability to reach the most vulnerable communities.