KP govt says Rs78.5bn liabilities cleared

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has cleared Rs 78.5 billion in inherited liabilities and increased the provincial revenue by over 49 percent while the surplus budget during the last six months has crossed Rs 169 billion.

This was revealed during the 23rd meeting of the provincial cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, said a handout.

All this was made possible even though it had established a debt management fund to pay off debts and added Rs 30 billion to this fund besides numerous welfare initiatives.

The chief minister stated that the draft Ramazan package of the KP government was ready and would soon be presented to the cabinet next week. He said that each parliamentarian would send a list of 5,000 poor people from his constituency who would be given Rs10,000/- each as part of the said package.

The chief minister said all parliamentarians should ensure the names, photocopies of the CNICs, and easy paisa accounts to reach the concerned offices in time.

He said that local administration should be timely mobilized so that no profiteer exploits the general public at large during Ramazan. He stressed ensuring transparency in these processes.

It was also revealed that the 26th meeting of the cabinet would review the one-year performance of every provincial department. The cabinet approved the provision of Rs 1.212.96 billion as a non-ADP scheme for the treatment of haemophilia patients in the province. The scheme will be funded by 50 percent each by the KP government and Roche Pakistan.

It was further revealed that there were 850 haemophilia patients registered in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, out of whom 65 children were unable to get treatment due to the high cost of medicines.

The cabinet approved Rs 19.374 billion for the construction of the Buner-Karakar Tunnel in Buner district and a bridge over the Indus River in Torghar district.

The construction of the Karakar Tunnel will significantly reduce the travel time between Buner and Swat, while the bridge will reinforce the bonds of close relations among the people of all these divisions, i.e. Malakand, Hazara and Mardan.

The cabinet approved the re-appropriation of the unspent amount of Rs. 781.485 million from the scheme ‘Development of Tourists Spots in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’ to the scheme ‘Rehabilitation of Flood Damaged Rural Roads under the Counter Value Funds.

Thus, the said fund will now be utilized for the construction of tourist roads.

It okayed the provision of a grant of Rs. 100 million to the Sports and Youth Affairs Department for the revival of the Youth Endowment Fund.

This fund will be used for capacity building of youth organizations, financial assistance for participation in national and international conferences, cash prizes for outstanding youth, and other youth-related activities.

The cabinet also approved the release of a grant of Rs. 80 million for Cadet College Mammad Gat (Mohmand) and a grant-in-aid of Rs 80 million for Peshawar Public School and College.

It okayed the increase in the fixed pay package for the chairman and members of the FATA Tribunal, to bring it on a par with other tribunals in the province.