PTI slashes KP Governor’s House spending by 67pc

PESHAWAR: Despite inflation, the PTI has slashed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor’s House's entertainment and gift spending by 67pc annually as compared to the previous years.

In the last seven years, the highest amount of expenditure of Rs25.969 million was incurred by the Governor’s House during the tenure of former governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan in 2015-16 while during the three years of the present governor, the lowest amount of Rs 7 million was spent in 2019-20. Governor Shah Farman used the government helicopter for only 40 hours in 40 months, while the former governor, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, used the government helicopter for 176 hours in 30 months of his tenure.

Sources in the Finance Department said that due to the proposed merger of the FATA, the governor had started a record reduction in expenditure and therefore a large amount of budget was returned every year. According to records obtained under the KP Right to Information Act 2013, in the financial year 2014-15, during the tenure of former governor Sardar Mehtab Khan, entertainment and gifts worth Rs16.5 million were released to the Governor’s House. Only Rs700 were surrendered by the former governor.

Similarly, during the tenure of former governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Rs22 million were released in the financial year 2016-17, and the same amount of Rs 22 million was also released in the financial year 2017-18. Only Rs35,794 and Rs96,640 were surrendered to the Finance Department and the rest of the amount was spent.

However, in the first year of Shah Farman, in the financial year 2018-19, Rs22 million were released for the budget of the Governor’s House for entertainment and gifts. Out of which Shah Farman spent only Rs 8.476 million and Rs13.523 million were surrendered to the Finance Department. Similarly, in the second year of Shah Farman, in the financial year 2019-20, Rs22 million were released for entertainment and gifts. Out of which Shah Farman spent only Rs7 million and returned Rs15 million. During the third year of Shah Farman, in the financial year 2020-21, Rs22 million were released for entertainment and gifts. The Governor’s House spent Rs9.434 million and an amount of Rs12.565 million was returned. According to data during the last three years, Shah Farman has neither traveled abroad nor spent a single rupee on domestic air travel. Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan used the government helicopter for 145 hours in 22 months and Iqbal Zafar Jhagra used the government helicopter for 176 hours in 30 months. However, Shah Farman used the government helicopter for only 40 hours in his 40 months, due to which the expenses of the government helicopter have been reduced.