PESHAWAR: The opposition benches in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday held the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government responsible for the current financial crisis in the province where the party had been in power for the last 10 years.
On the other hand, the treasury benches blamed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government at the Centre and its nominated interim setup in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the prevailing crisis as they claimed the federal government had not given its due share to the province during the one and half years.
During a general debate over the annual budget for 2023-24 presented in the assembly last Friday, the opposition leader Dr Ibadullah of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) said the Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in his first presser had said KP was almost on the verge of economic collapse and had plunged into financial crisis but the budget figures for the current fiscal year spoke otherwise.
“Who should we believe? The chief executive of the province or the budget document presented in the provincial assembly last week?” he asked. The opposition leader criticized the previous PTI-led governments and accused them of pursuing failed economic policies that led to the present financial crisis.
Dr Ibad said that the provincial government had received a huge amount in the name of controlling and combating militancy for the last 10 years but the law and order had been at its worst, particularly in the southern districts of KP.
“The police stations in merged districts (formerly tribal areas) are functioning in the rented buildings while the police and other law-enforcement agencies there are short of weapons and ammunition,” he said.
The opposition leader added that the native district of the chief minister-- Dera Ismail Khan -- was the worst as far as the law and order in the province was concerned. He questioned where the funds meant for improving security had been spent that were provided by the federal government in the last 10 years.
“If a serving judge is kidnapped by militants in the chief minister district and then he is released after paying the ransom, what would be the situation in other districts?” he said and alleged that the chief minister had himself admitted that he had paid extortion to the militants.
The PMLN leader alleged that massive irregularities and mismanagement had been reported in the Sehat cards where the private hospitals had earned huge amounts through fraudulent means.
“Instead of allocating billions of rupees to the health insurance schemes, the provincial government must improve the existing public hospitals and construct more health-care centres in the province,” he proposed.
Dr Ibad demanded that inquiry commission must be constituted to probe the alleged irregularities in the health insurance scheme in the province. He said that senior and specialist doctors had either left the government jobs or opted for other provinces and countries as a result of the health policy of the previous governments.
Similarly, the opposition leader added, about 80 percent of universities had been faced with financial problems and were running without vice-chancellors for the lack of proper attention to higher education in the province.
The position leader said the present PTI government had accused the federal government of not giving its share and arrears in the federal divisible pool and net hydel profit but actually province had not received its due share when Imran Khan was prime minister and the PTI was in power in the province for four years.
“Out of five there were four members from the PTI including Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Council of Common Interests but the province did not get its share neither in the national resources nor in the net hydel profits,” he said.
The opposition leader added that under the AGN Qazir formula, the electricity department (Wapda) owed about Rs 1500 billion to KP but in the budget document showed Rs 85 billion as NHP arrears.
Arbab Usman Khan of the Awami National Party said that the PTI-led governments had not taken solid and practical steps to improve its revenue generation and resources and the province had been dependent over the federal government funds and resources.
“We have great potential in oil and gas and other natural resources but the provincial government did not utilize its resources in right direction,” he said and added that the provincial government failed to evolve a workable policy and mechanism for developing the agriculture sector in the province.
Responding to criticism of the opposition parties, Abdul Karim, Naveed Anjum and Liaqat Ali of Pakistan PTI said the PDM-dominated caretaker government in KP had pushed the province to the prevailing financial crisis. The session was adjourned till Tuesday afternoon.
