NewsJune 11, 2017
Opposition rejects KP budget
PESHAWAR: Opposition in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly rejected the provincial government budget for financial year 2017-18 as jugglery of words and deficit one.The provincial assembly began debate on the budget here, with Deputy Speaker Dr Meher Taj Roghani in the chair.
Leader of the Opposition Maulana Lutf-ur-Rehman opened debate on the annual budget.
In his opening speech, the opposition leader said that like previous year, the PTI-led provincial government had once again presented a deficit budget.
He said that though the government was declaring it a balance budget, it was a deficit one.
He said that non-salary amount in the budget was Rs395 billion and the remaining amount of Rs208 billion was for development.
However, he said that by the end of the year, it would be cut down, which would be adjusted through deduction in the development budget in the constituencies of the opposition legislators. The opposition leader said the budget should not only contain attractive and catchy words, rather it should contain details of both receipts and expenditures for the year.
He said the provincial government had reflected a loan in the budget to be achieved from Asian Development Bank (ADB) for the construction of Rapid Bus Project.
However, he said that procedure of securing such a loan is complicated and lengthy and the government will not be able to receive in the remaining short time period. He was also critical of the reshuffle in the road sector schemes in the annual development programme of the outgoing financial year, saying that though the government had allocated Rs 10 billion, it was transferred to other departments.
The opposition leader was also critical of the hefty salaries for the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the newly formed organisations like Provincial Energy Development Organisation (PEDO), KP OGDCL and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development and Management Company (KP-EZDMC) without taking their performance into consideration.
He said that the CEO of KP EZDMC had been arrested by NAB for alleged corruption while the services of the second had been extended illegally.
He said that the government had miserable failed in the construction of its pledged 350 dams to generate electricity and solve the problem of loadshedding.
In response to the speech of the opposition leader, Provincial Minister for Information Shah Farman said that on the basis of AGN Kazi formula, the provincial government owes a huge amount of Rs1500 billion to Wapda in head of net profit on hydel power generation.
He said the payment of such resources would enable the provincial government to construct several energy sector projects to solve the loadshedding problem. He also rejected the impression about the allocation of hefty amount for highlighting the achievements of the provincial government.
He requested all parliamentary parties to join hands with the provincial government to wage struggle for the rights of the province.
Chief Minister Pervez Khattak assured that the budget document was proposed and could be amended. The parliamentary leader of PML-N, Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha rejected the impression of the tax-free budget, saying unprecedented taxes have been imposed on common men. He said the property tax had been increased by 50pc while the government employees had also been taxed for first time in the history of the province.
Similarly, he said that taxes has also been imposed on wedding halls, loading of mobile phone balance cards and net cafes while taxes on petrol pumps and CNG stations have been increased from Rs8000 to Rs 12,000 per year.
Deputy Speaker Dr Meher Taj Roghani later adjourned the proceedings of the house till tomorrow (Sunday), 2pm.
Courtesy www.thenews.com.pk
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