Opposition members see no relief for poor

KP Assembly debates budget on second day

PTI dissident MPA walks out of House

PESHAWAR: A dissident member of ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Qurban Ali Khan walked out of the House as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly continued debate on the budget 2017-18 on the second consecutive day on Sunday.

The opposition members, including Awami National Party (ANP) parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak and Syed Jaffar Shah, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Raja Faisal Zaman, Sheraz Khan, Saleh Muhammad and Amna Sardar, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Mufti Said Janan, Mehmood Khan Bhittani and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Salim Khan criticised the government and said the budget had nothing for the common man.

Qurban Ali Khan lashed out at the government for what he said violation of the PTI’s manifesto and promises made during the last election campaign. He said public money was being misused.

Alleging corruption in development schemes, he asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to investigate the uplift projects in Nowshera. He said large scale misappropriation of funds was carried out in the ‘Billion Tree Tsunami’ project and more funds should not be allocated for this ‘failed’ project.

He said four million saplings were given to one person, which showed how transparent it was. He added that the Small Industrial Development Organisation was made dysfunctional and a private company was established to develop industrial zones and a person was appointed its chief executive, who was arrested by NAB on corruption charges.

“The company officers are getting hefty salaries without doing any work,” he added. The legislator complained that his constituency was ignored in the budget. Earlier, Sardar Babak termed the budget a joke with the people of the province.

He said the new National Finance Commission (NFC) award was due in 2016. “Punjab is getting 51 percent funds under the present NFC award while the rest of the provinces are getting 49 percent,” he said.

The lawmaker said the provincial government also compromised on the rights of the province as it didn’t raise the issue at the meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI). He praised former president of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, saying he was a hero who empowered small federating unites.

Ridiculing the KP government, he said only Rs10,00,000 were allocated in the budget for a project that could be undertaken at a cost of Rs5000 million, which meant the project would be completed in 120 years. He said the CPEC projects were also reflected in the budget.

Sardar Babak said during the ANP’s previous government the throw forward projects were of Rs125 billion, which had now reached Rs3,000 billion. Taking part in the debate, Raja Faisal Zaman of PML-N said the House should be informed why the poor province was being put under the burden of Rs53 billion loan and grants.

He complained that billions of rupees schemes were being executed in his constituency without taking him into confidence as representative of the area and the amount was being spent through an unelected person.

Jaffar Shah said that Rs53 billion loan would put extra burden on the province. Questioning the budget utilisation, he said one primary school was constructed in his constituency in the last four years and that too was not handed over yet while 2.4 million children were still out of schools in the province, which showed the PTI’s commitment and claims about education emergency.

Mehmood Khan Bhittani said more than a dozen villages in his native Tank lacked clean drinking water. He said human beings and animals in about 10 villages drank water from the same pound.

He said these villages should be provided water on priority basis. Minister for Public Health Engineering Shah Farman assured Mehmood Khan Bhittani that he would visit Tank after Eid and resolve the problem.Salim Khan, Saleh Muhammad, Mufti Said Janan, Sheraz Khan and Amna Sardar also termed the budget as unjust, saying the government didn’t give due share to the opposition.