KP Assembly approves supplementary budget

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Saturday approved the supplementary budget for 2019-20 by giving approval to a total of 47 demands for grant of more than Rs55.42 billion.

The budget included Rs29.42 billion for ongoing expenditure and Rs26.55 billion development expenditure. Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani presided over the sitting for the first time after his recovery from Covid-19. In his absence, Deputy Speaker Mehmood Jan presided over the session from June 19 to 26. After recitation from the Holy Quran, the members offered fateha for the departed soul of the mother of Babar Salim Swati, a PTI MPA from Mansehra. The members also greeted the speaker and his recovery from coronavirus. During the debate on the supplementary budget, the opposition members raised the issue of increase in prices of petroleum products. Awami National Party (ANP) parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak said Rs25 per litre rise was failure of the government.

He asked whether the government had surrendered to the petroleum mafia. He said even in Afghanistan petrol was being sold cheaper than Pakistan. He said the oil companies were provided a benefit of Rs7 billion in one night. Sardar Aurangzaib Nalotha of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) wondered whether the government dropped the petroleum bomb to please the mafia.

He complained that the Ayub Bridge, Dhamtor Bypass and Namli Mera road projects in Abbottabad district were launched during the rule of the previous PML-N government but were still incomplete when the PTI was in power.

Shagufta Malik of ANP also criticized the government for the hike in petroleum product prices. PML-N’s Sobia Shahid demanded increase in the salaries of MPAs, saying the members could not manage their budget in the present salary but all of them were silent.

She again objected to the supplementary budget, saying government departments were closed due to coronavirus then how the government justified spending during the lockdown. She said the private schools’ teachers were not paid salaries nor the government provided them any assistance. Sahibzada Sanaullah of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) complained that funds have been released for hospitals in his Upper Dir district but with a cut. He said in Malakand division there were no facilities for online classes for students. Mir Kalam Khan and Hafiz Asamuddin complained that the merged tribal districts did not have internet facility which was grave injustice with students of these under-developed areas. Finance Minister Taimur Salim Jhagra assured the House the timely release of funds. He said that coronavirus delayed the release otherwise the ADP funds would have been released by December 2019. For ongoing schemes which are near completion funds should be released in time, he added. He said the Bank of Khyber (BoK) has been directed to devise a five-year plan. To a question, he said BoK had its own board of directors and government did not interfere in its affairs. However, he said the bank administration had been directed to improve its IT section for providing better services to the customers. He said Rs38.77 billion have been released for development schemes in the newly merged districts of which Rs37.53 billion have been spent so far.

To a question about raise in salary of government employees, he said at this difficult time the government has to take decisions in the larger interest of the whole community instead of 0.5 million employees. He recalled that 15 years ago the total salary of government employees in the province was Rs40 billion and it has now reached Rs274 billion. Besides, he said the government has to pay pension of Rs86 billion. He added the government employees would benefit from Sehat Insaf Card, life and medical insurance and housing facilities. About increase in petroleum prices, he said the raise was made keeping in view the hike in the rates in the international market.