PESHAWAR, June 20: The opposition lawmakers on Friday criticized the government for presenting an ambitious budget, saying it was short of funds needed to execute the projects identified in the annual development programme.

Speaking during the budget debate, Abdul Akbar Khan of the PPP claimed the government would not be able to execute the ADP even in the next eight years. The government had allocated Rs14.69 billion for the ADP, but the actual amount it had managed for it was not more than Rs6.85 billion, including Rs1.25 billion earmarked for the Tameer-i-Sarhad Programme.

He said the ADP also involved Rs5.39 billion foreign-aided projects, Rs1. 11 billion special projects and Rs960 million for the district ADP.

The development packages announced by the chief minister during his visits to various districts and allocations for drought and barani projects had also been included in the ADP, he said.

The PPP leader said the budget was full of mistakes and contradictions, adding it was better for the government to author a fresh document and table it in the house. In such a situation, he pointed out, the government could not sustain even a single cut motion in the budget.

He said the government had created 8,000 jobs for teachers and a teacher would be paid Rs3,000 a month. But in the Schedule of New Expenditures, he pointed out, Rs841 million had been allocated for 8,283 new posts of teachers. According to the allocation, Mr Khan said, those teachers would be getting only Rs875 a month each instead of Rs3,000.

He suggested punitive action against those who had caused embarrassment for the government by preparing a budget full of contradictions.

Mureed Kazim of the PPP (Sherpao) said the government had allocated a meagre amount for Dera Ismail Khan. He said Water and Power Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao had sanctioned more than Rs100 million worth of electrification schemes in his constituency, but the provincial government had ignored him in the ADP.

Mushtaq Ghani of the PML-Q assured the MMA that his party was fully behind the NWFP government on the provincial rights and the Shariat issue.

He said the government had given no relief to the poor and added that the budget was silent on the basic needs, such as food, clothing, health-care and shelter, of those living below the property line.

Tahir bin Yameen from Tank said people in his constituency were demanding drinking water, but the government had come up with no plans in the budget to meet the demand.

Dr Saleem from Swabi complained that his constituency had been excluded from the ADP.

Criticizing the disparity in the funds allocated to various districts and projects, Sikandar Khan Sherpao termed the ADP an unjust document, wherein most of the MPAs from the treasury benches had been ignored.

Speaking on a point of order, PPP’s Iftikhar Khan Jhagra drew the attention of the house to the rising flood in Kabul River and flood-hit villages in his constituency. He asked the government to take effective measures for the rescue of those living along the river bank.