Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has warned that if urban areas of Sindh are not granted their due rights, a constitutional amendment to create new provinces could become a real possibility.

He cautioned that if the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) refuses to discuss local government reforms, even the 18th Constitutional Amendment could come under threat, paving the way for a new province in Sindh.

Speaking on a private television programme, Kamal said Sindh received Rs2,400 billion this year under the NFC Award, of which Rs800 billion belonged to Karachi alone.

However, he claimed the city did not receive even Rs100 billion.

According to him, the federal government says all funds have already been handed over to the Sindh chief minister, and Karachi should seek its share from him.

Kamal said Karachi’s problems were worsening to the extent that the Sindh chief minister had become responsible for even lifting garbage — a task normally handled at the local level.

He reiterated that if the PPP failed to give urban areas their rights, the demand for a new province would grow stronger.

Provinces, he said, are created when the rights of urban populations are suppressed and resources withheld.

He further said that the PPP had previously opposed the agricultural tax, but President Asif Ali Zardari announced it himself when the IMF exerted pressure.

Likewise, he argued, a constitutional amendment for creating new provinces was also possible.