June 29, 2003	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 28,1424

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MUZAFFARABAD, June 28: AJK Legislative Assembly on Saturday unanimously approved Rs13.202 billion budget of the state for the next financial year.

Finance Minister Shah Ghulam Qadir presented 50 demands for grant for the budget in the house, presided over by Speaker Sardar Siab Khalid.

The opposition moved three cut motions in the non-development budget and 14 in the development budget, one of which was rejected while others were withdrawn, which paved the way for unanimous approval of the document.

The house unanimously passed the supplementary budget for the ongoing year, with an outlay of Rs12.815 billion.

In the concluding speech of the session, Prime Minister Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan said he would not succumb to any pressure and would go by the book at all costs.

Alluding to the AJK president, the premier said in his hard-hitting speech that no person sitting outside the assembly had the right to impose ‘checks and balances’ or conduct monitoring of the government’s functions.

“No one should have any illusion that he can achieve his objectives by subjecting me to pressure or coercion,” he said.

He said he could accept amendment to the constitution but only through the laid down procedure. “But let it be clear that this cannot be done by staging siege of the assembly or adopting any other unlawful procedure,” he said and asked the opposition to work in unison with the government to protect the system in AJK.

Winding up the budget debate, the finance minister informed the house that the government had raised the amount allocated to extend loans on soft terms to educated youth for launching small-scale businesses from Rs3.4 million to Rs50 million.

He announced that the Board of Investment would be reorganized.

The minister said Rs140 million would be spent on provision of compensation to the victims of Indian shelling along the Line of Control and their rehabilitation.

He said the MLAs’ development funds, under the Social Action Programme, had been raised from Rs2 million to Rs3 million. He said the government would consider to raise the allocation.

He said the government would try to set up an MLA Foundation for the welfare of the sitting and former lawmakers.

He said a foundation for political workers would also be established.

He said Rs1 million had been provided for the Press Foundation but the amount would be increased.

He said Rs600 million was required annually to give Rs1,000 raise in the salaries to police constables and AJK had asked the federal government to provide funds for the purpose.