PESHAWAR: Amid opposition’s boycott, the Khyber Pakhtun-khwa Assembly Friday approved 33 demands for grants worth more than 100 billion rupees as the cut motions submitted were either withdrawn or got lapsed due to absence of the movers. The joint opposition except Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) boycotted the session for the second consecutive day. The concerned ministers and advisors or special assistants to the chief minister presented the demands for grants regarding their ministries. Members from QWP Bakht Baidar, Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli and Meraj Humayun Khan presented cut motions but later withdrew them after getting assurances from the concerned ministers and advisors with regard to their concerns. The movers of cut motions from the opposition parties like Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz did not turn up. This gave the treasury a smooth sail as there was no need of voting. The major grant of about Rs32 billion was sought for the police, followed by Rs21.57 billion accepted on Friday. The list though is long with requests for big chunks for other sectors and ministries. A total of 59 demands for grants were submitted but due to shortage of time for Friday congregational prayers, Speaker Asad Qaiser had to adjourn the House till Monday. Responding to a cut motion on grant for the police by QWP’s Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak expressed satisfaction over police performance and said the force didn’t have sufficient strength to control the more than 85,000 candidates and their supporters in the local government elections on May 30. He said an investigation team led by the chief secretary and having other senior officers was probing the matter and those found guilty would be taken to task.He said some district returning officers (DROs) had written the first information report (FIR) against themselves by admitting the facts about absence of staff or polling material, etc. “Whose responsibility was ensuring timely deployment of polling staff and provision of polling material?” he posed a question. He added that the Election Commission of Pakistan was responsible for these issues but it failed to do its job. He reminded that his government had proposed deployment of army for the elections but the Election Commission didn’t agree with it. He said those responsible for the mismanagement and irregularities would be brought to book once the probe body completes its work.The issue of electricity loadshedding also echoed in the House as the Speaker noted that the matter was of serious nature, especially in the month of Ramazan and needed discussion. Earlier, the Speaker told a press conference in his chamber that the last night’s incident of violence in Chota Lahor, Swabi was the result of the mismanagement and wrong decision of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) and the water and power ministry. He said the ugly incident occurred despite the Prime Minister’s directives to the water and power ministry not to carry out loadshedding in Ramazan at the time of Iftar and Sehr. He argued that the 18-hours long power outages in the scorching heat compelled the consumers to take to the streets at midnight. He appealed to the premier to take notice of the violation of his order and punish those found responsible.
