Sherpao terms budget anti-poor

PESHAWAR: Terming the budget 2015-16 as anti-poor and pro-rich, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) chief Aftab Sherpao Saturday said it was ironic that the government had proposed just 7.5 percent increase in employees’ salaries.
“This increase should be made according to proportion of the inflation rate. As Pakistan is an agricultural country, the federal government has also ignored this sector in the budget. The farmers should be given more incentives so as to bring the country’s economy back on the track,” the QWP chief told reporters here.
Flanked by QWP provincial chairman Sikandar Hayat Sherpao and General Secretary Tariq Ahmad Khan, he said the proposed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was very important for all the regional players as it will benefit all the stakeholders on equal footing.
He said that the CPEC would bring economic revolution in both Pakistan and Afghanistan and it can help eliminate the persistent turmoil in the region.
“The Pakhtun belt is considered to be the heart of Asia. If there is peace and economic development in this belt, it will have positive impacts on the whole Asia,” he added.
Talking about India’s reservations on CPEC, Aftab Sherpao said that on the one hand Indian government was signing defence pacts with the United States while on the other, it was opposing CPEC which aims at bringing economic development to the entire continent.
“The QWP condemns double-standards of the Indian government and their illegitimate and unlawful stance on CPEC,” Sherpao added.
He said that 70 percent of industrial sector had been closed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to the war on terror, which had created a bad impression on employment rate. He asked the federal government to focus on this sector and devise a strategy to make them functional again.
Rejecting results of the local government elections, Aftab Sherpao said that PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Chief Minister Pervez Khattak had accepted rigging and irregularities at different polling stations. Owing to their statements, the provincial government should declare May 30 LG polls null and void and devise a proper mechanism to make the election process free and fair after consultative meetings with other political leaders, he added.
He said the QWP was facing two major opponents – the three-party alliance and the ruling party – in the LG polls but still the people showed their confidence in party’s leadership who won seats in various
districts.
Aftab Sherpao said the government should establish a trust for the militancy-hit people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata.
He also demanded the federal government to take concrete steps regarding reconstruction and rehabilitation work in the tribal belt.