F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: The joint opposition in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Monday slammed the provincial government for presenting a huge supplementary budget of Rs.234.98 billion for financial year 2021-22. Debate on supplementary budget began with the speech of the Parliamentary leader of PMLN Sardar Muhammad Yousaf on Monday. Deputy Speaker Mahmood Jan was presiding over the proceeding of the house.
The PML-N legislator said that the government has spent the budget on unnecessary schemes and totally neglected the opposition’s constituencies especially Hazara division. Parliamentary Leader of ANP Sardar Hussain Babak said that through presenting huge supplementary budget, the provincial government has proved its ineptness and mismanagement.
He said that though local government was in place but in the supplementary budget, an amount of Rs4 billion has been allocated for the Local Council Board and another huge amount of Rs31 billion in salaries head. He said that a few constituencies have been awarded in the supplementary budget while the others have been fully neglected.
Babak asked the government to explain how it had spent Rs131 million. He was also critical of the payment of Rs 25,000 per month to social media workers for highlighting the achievement of PTI government. Sardar Hussain Babak alleged that public resources are being spent for party purposes and not for the province.
He said that institutions like NTS received Rs 55 billion in the name of holding tests in three years. Deputy Parliamentary Leader of JUIF Maulana Lutfur Rehman said that the supplementary budget is dishonesty with the people by the government. Maulana Lutfur Rehman said that according to his information, the provincial government has not any fund from the federal government for the erstwhile FATA during the last three years.
Taking the floor, Minister for Finance Taimur Salim Jhagra said that the supplementary budget is the difference between a general estimate and a revised estimate. He said that sometimes the government has to incur expenses that are not approved in the budget.
Giving details of the supplementary budget, the provincial minister said that current revenue expenditure in the budget for financial year 2021-22 was estimated at Rs.747.23 billion, out of which Rs.99 billion for the newly merged districts. However, in the revised estimates the amount reached to 894.09 billion, which is Rs.146.86 billion higher than the actual expenditure. We have saved Rs 75 billion in various projects during the current financial year and also saved Rs 40 billion in two years from various World Bank projects, the Finance Minister informed the House.
He said that they have increased the revenue of the province from Rs 25 billion to Rs 75 billion. He said the salaries of government employees have been increased by 30 percent twice in the last four months, adding the government has set up a contribution fund by reforming the pension system. Highlighting the reasons of presenting supplementary budget, he said that an amount of Rs.80.93 million were released in head of the payment of annual increments in salaries, allowances, honourarium, electricity and gas bills and petrol to the employees of the provincial assembly while an additional amount of Rs.540.55 million was also released for payment of annual increment in salaries, executive allowance, house rent, leave encashment, POL, electricity bills and purchase of vehicles.
He said they have to reduce expenses and increase revenue. Instead of unilateral, the salaries should be increased on performance basis. Khushdil Khan, Bahadar Khan and Shagufta Malik of ANP, Nighat Orakzai and Ahmad Kundi of PPP, Naeema Kishwar and Rehana Ismail of JUIF also criticized the provincial government for presenting the supplementary budget. Later, the chair adjourned the assembly proceedings till 1400 hours of Tuesday.
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