MUZAFFARABAD, June 21: Azad Kashmir Finance Minister Shah Ghulam Qadir on Saturday presented a Rs13.202 billion budget for fiscal year 2003-04 in the AJK Legislative Assembly amid noisy protest by the opposition.
An amount of Rs9.372 billion has been allocated for non-developmental expenditures, whereas Rs3.83 billion, including a foreign component of Rs342 million, have been proposed for development expenditures, which show an increase of 16 per cent as compared to the out-going development budget.
No new tax has been imposed in the budget which shows a deficit of Rs2.28 billion.
The AJK Legislative Assembly Speaker, Sardar Siab Khalid, presided over the budget session.
When the finance minister took the floor to deliver budget speech, a woman opposition legislator Kosar Gillani rushed towards him, snatched his documents and tore them apart.
However, the minister’s colleagues immediately provided him a copy of printed edition of the budget to begin his speech.
In the meanwhile, 10 of the 15 opposition legislators present in the house, led by leader of the opposition Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, tried to prevent the minister from delivering his speech. They attempted to grab the mikes installed on the rostrum, but some treasury members made a human shield in front of the finance minister and did not let the opposition MLAs approach him.
Though at least on three occasions some opposition legislators succeeded in removing some of the mikes, the finance minister remained undeterred and finished his speech.
The minister informed the house that the budget envisaged an income of Rs3,057 million to be generated from internal resources of the state, such as Rs1,890 million from the electricity department, Rs300 million from the forest department and Rs513 million from local taxes.
Apart from this, he said, revenue receipts of Rs1,725 million were expected from the AJK Council as 80 per cent share of Azad Kashmir in taxes was collected from the AJK territory and Rs2,302.943 million as Azad Kashmir’s share in federal taxes. The federal government would also meet the deficit between the income and expenditures to the tune of Rs2,287.057 million, he said.
The minister told the house that the communication sector would receive the maximum share of Rs1,110.4 million in the annual development programme, which was 34 per cent more than that of the current year’s revised allocation.
An amount of Rs375 million have been proposed for education sector. In addition, the World Bank-funded Northern Education Project would also be completed whereby thousands of teaches would be trained and 450 primary school buildings would be constructed, besides provision of necessary equipment to other institutions, he said.
The minister said the electricity distribution network had been extended to 95 per cent rural areas in the AJK, whereas 70 per cent population was enjoying the facility of electricity. An amount of Rs400 million had been proposed for this sector, of which Rs165.871 million would be spent on the ongoing projects and the rest on fresh schemes, he said.
Azad Kashmir, the minister said, had vast potential for hydropower generation and the government was initiating negotiations with the international donor agencies to get funds on soft terms to tap these resources. A sum of Rs95 million had been allocated for this sector and an investment board, headed by the chief secretary, was being reorganized to attract investments, he said.
The minister announced that economic zones would be set up at different places where the investors, both domestic or foreign, would be given a 5-year duty exemption on establishment of industries. The AJK government would contact the government of Pakistan and the AJK Council in this regard, he added.
The government was also endeavouring to establish a dry port and an export processing zone in Mirpur to facilitate the industrialists, he said, adding that Rs30.5 million for industries and the government printing press had been allocated.
He said the government also planned to open an emporium in Islamabad to promote the Kashmiri handicrafts.
The finance minister said the government had decided to construct mini dams during the next financial year to preserve water resources. He said the step would not only help overcome water shortage it would also lead to promotion of tourism in the state.
In the health sector, Rs245.278 million had been allocated and special emphasis was being laid on preventive healthcare, besides completion of the buildings of district and tehsil headquarters hospitals.
Other allocations proposed in the next year’s budget included Rs654 million for rural development programme; Rs368 million for physical planning and housing; Rs80 million for information technology; Rs228.225 million for resource management projects; Rs106.909 million for forests; Rs19 million for tourism, wildlife and fisheries; Rs44 million for water and irrigation; Rs10.788 million for planning and development; Rs13 million for agriculture; Rs13.2 million for animal husbandry; Rs10 million for AJK Mineral and Industrial Development Corporation; Rs14.5 million for AJK small industries; Rs10 million for social welfare department; and Rs2.2 million for environment protection.
The minister said a Rs55 billion package for those affected by the Mangla Dam raising project had been approved due to the personal interest of President Pervez Musharraf and AJK Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat.
Not only this, the AJK’s right on dam’s royalty had also been recognized, he said and expressed the hope that an agreement to this effect would be signed soon.
The minister said the AJK’s development budget was fully provided by the federal government. Apart from that budget, different federal ministries and corporations would make additional spending of around Rs2 billion in AJK during the next financial year. This included Rs95 million for two projects of the AJK University, Rs48 million for family planning and primary healthcare, Rs60 million for population welfare, Rs37.9 million for Mangla watershed, Rs100 million for the initial stage for hydel projects in Neelum and Jhelum valleys and Rs43 million for construction of a bridge on River Jhelum near Azad Pattan.
