Sit-in in front of Parliament if funds not released: KP, GB CMs

ISLAMABAD: In a rare development, the chief ministers of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, finance ministers of Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir jointly criticised the federal government for allegedly depriving the provinces and administrative territories of their legitimate funds.

KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Provincial Finance Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra, GB Chief Minister Khalid Khursheed Khan, Punjab Finance Minister Mohsin Leghari and AJK Finance Minister Abdul Majeed Khan held a joint news conference at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House. However, Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi was conspicuous by his absence from the presser.

Mahmood Khan said the provincial government had written several letters to the federal government, informing it about its financial problems, and requesting for resolution of the issues, but there was no positive response from the central government.

He explained the KP government announced a budget of Rs13 trillion for the current financial year, according to the vision of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, the budget focused on investing in people and development schemes. However, he added, the provincial government had been facing difficulties ever since the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government assumed power in April. 

“I am warning the federal government today that we should be given dues, our money, which is our right; we are not asking for charity. The funds for the merged tribal areas must also be released, as it is dangerous not to release funds for the merged tribal areas, whereas the federal government had reduced the budget for these areas,” he claimed.

He said that the current budget of the merged districts is Rs60 billion, while the requirement for these areas is Rs85 billion. The KP government is also not being paid Rs4.5 billion allocated for the health card programme in the merged areas and Rs17 billion for the internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The CM continued that during the incumbent PDM government, all projects allocated for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa under the Public Sector Development Programme (PDSP) had been scrapped and the funds allocated for the province under the initiative were significantly reduced.

The federal government, he alleged, was not even giving the province a ‘sovereign guarantee’ that they could take loans from a third party. He claimed the federal government did not promise funds for the provincial government to deal with the devastating effects of floods in KP.

He demanded the federal government pay the KP government its dues, raising the question whether the province was not part of Pakistan. “If it is so, we should be given our right; if the federal government does not give us our rights, we will stage a sit-in in front of the National Assembly,” he warned.

The CM claimed to also have the support of the opposition in KP Assembly in this regard, and added, “If funds are not released even after the sit-in, we will bring people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Islamabad."

He said “if the federal government does not give us our rights, we will snatch it; the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is ready to discuss the issue with the federal government."

GB Chief Minister Khalid Khursheed told the press conference the development budget of all other areas was increased this year, but the budget of Gilgit-Baltistan was reduced from Rs40 billion to Rs25 billion. He termed the move enmity with the region and said that it had never happened in the history; the federal government released only Rs2.8 billion under the ADP for Gilgit-Baltistan in the first six months of the current financial year, which was totally insufficient for their needs.

The CM regretted that under the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative, not a single project had been started in Gilgit-Baltistan to generate the required electricity for the administrative unit, adding the region had to face load-shedding for hours, while his government had also run out of money to run diesel generators so that the duration of load-shedding could be reduced.

He decried that the federal government had reduced wheat subsidy for Gilgit-Baltistan and the territory was not being provided funds to deal with the post-floods situation and disaster. He pointed out that the federal government promised to give GB development funds of Rs40 billion, but these promises were not fulfilled.

“The Gilgit-Baltistan government now has no option but to go on strike. We will observe strike all over Gilgit-Baltistan and if possible, we will also bring people to Islamabad, we will hold a cabinet meeting outside the National Assembly,” he added.

Punjab Finance Minister Mohsin Leghari said that the federal government had to pay Rs176. 40 billion to the province and it was not paying its share under the tripartite agreement with the Punjab government and the state life insurance for the health card programme.

The federal government, he pointed out, had not released any funds to Punjab to deal with the flood situation while the province was deprived of infrastructure restoration projects approved during the recent executive committee meeting of the National Economic Council. About the state guarantee, he criticised the federal government for not signing an agreement for a loan from the Asian Development Bank for construction of the Greater Thal Canal.

Leghari said that the federal government was not cooperating with the provinces, treating the central provinces as if they were enemies. AJK Finance Minister Abdul Majeed Khan said the PDM government first targeted Azad Jammu and Kashmir after coming to power and failed to pay its grant under the 2018 financial agreement. Owing to lack of funds, he contended that the Azad Jammu and Kashmir government was also running out of funds to pay salaries.

He recalled that the Imran Khan government had announced a Line of Control (LoC) package under the development budget of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. He explained that the Line of Control was country’s first line of defence and the civilian population living along the Line of Control is the first line of defence.

Abdul Majeed claimed that after the PDM government came to power, the allocation for the LoC was significantly reduced. He also condemned reduction in the PSDP funds for Azad Kashmir and said that their patience had run out, now they had no option but to protest peacefully.