Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Thursday said the Article 124 allowed the provincial government to approve a development scheme or project outside the budget if deemed necessary.

Talking to media after appearing before to NAB in Islamabad, Murad said questions were asked about the solar lights project approved in 2014-15 and he explained his position to the investigators. The scheme was approved by the Sindh Assembly to fulfil the constitutional requirements before being executed, he added

Murad – who was the provincial finance minister at that time in the government of former chief minister Qaim Ali Shah – said the NAB did not hand over any questionnaire but told to him that they would soon do so.

Answering a query about the federal government’s decision with respect to the Pakistan Steel Mills, Murad told the reporter that the question should be asked to those [Asad Umar] who had promised [at a rally] that they would stand by the workers in case of privatisation or downsizing. “We are standing by the workers,” he added.

The chief minister made the remarks as the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Wednesday approved retrenchment of all the 9,350 remaining employees of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) at a cost of around Rs20 billion.

Murad said he would not blame the people for not following the SOPs at markets and other public places defined in connection with relaxing the lockdown.

It was due to the mixed messages in which the coronavirus had been described as just a flu, said the chief minister without naming Prime Minister Imran and Sindh Governor Imran Ismail. The coronavirus pandemic is deadly and serious, he added.

When asked whether he takes Imran seriously for his mixed and contradicting messages, Murad said he won’t share his personal opinion on media but added that the prime minister should make decisions while keeping the entire country and people in mind.

The chief minister said he did not hold press conferences unnecessarily [unlike the PTI government members] on the coronavirus issue and talked to media only there was a need to clarify any ambiguity created due to mixed or wrong messaging.