Financial crunch not to affect salaried-class, pensioners: minister

PESHAWAR: Finance Minister Muzaffar Said on Sunday said despite facing financial difficulties, development work in the province would neither affect nor salaries and pension of the government employees halted.

He said the provincial government had ensured the supremacy of law and merit. “Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) is the only ray of hope in the prevailing crisis,” he said while addressing the JI shura meeting at the hujra of Ihteshamul Haq in Munjai village in Lower Dir district.

Muzaffar said that his party played a key role in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa coalition government. He said his party uprooted corruption from the ministries it had in the provincial government. “We promoted religious values and made record legislation in the province including ban on private interest-based business,” he said.

He said his government was going to introduce Islamic education at primary level and Quran recitation at matriculation level as compulsory subject wherein vacancies in all schools of the province were being created in the next budget for this purpose.

He said Urdu was being given status of official language in the province. “We have set high standards of financial discipline and transparency in the province. Now nobody could embezzle funds or indulge in malpractices because the corrupt elements were being nabbed,” he said.

However, he deplored that federal government had stopped financial resources of the KP government. He said the federal government had usurped the rights of the smaller provinces, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

However, he reiterated the pledge that the provincial government instead of becoming a silent spectator would approach all political forces of the province to raise voice for its provincial rights.