26 June 2004	Saturday	07 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

PESHAWAR, June 25: The NWFP Assembly on Friday approved six demands for grants of Rs1.056 billion to meet the expenditures to be borne by different departments for ongoing schemes by June 30, 2004.

The house unanimously granted a demand of Rs50 million, moved by Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Malik Zafar Azam in connection with the expenditure borne by the assembly. No MPA tabled any cut motion on the demand.

When the law and parliamentary affairs minister, on behalf of Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, sought the approval of Rs409 million to meet the expenditure on the general administration department, seven MPAs from the treasury and the opposition benches moved their cut motions. They criticized the performance of the department.

Abdul Akbar Khan of the People's Party Parliamentarians was of the view that a demand for such a huge amount was uncalled for and it would be eaten up by the bureaucrats. He said the bulk of the amount would go to the chief secretary and the establishment and services and general administration secretaries, while the remaining meagre amount would go to chief minister's secretariat.

He said the poor province paid millions of rupees for the utility bills of the three secretaries, which was unjust and unfair. The government spent millions of rupees on an army of dishwashers, assistant dishwashers and helpers to the dishwashers, besides 45 pump-operators, 91 electricians, 10 spices grinders and 38 waiters, he said.

He said taxpayers' money was being squandered on the comforts of a class sitting in the civil secretariat. "Why should people pay for this," he asked.

He said the NWFP government used to pay Rs22 million every year to Governor's House, which had its own parallel government in the form of the Fata secretariat.

The federal government should bear the cost of the governor's tours to the tribal agencies and jirgas and meetings called at Governor's House instead of the province, he said.

Muzaffar Said of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, who moved a cut motion of Rs10, pressed the government to recover rent from bureaucrats who were living in Islamabad after being posted in federal departments but had not vacated their bungalows here. "These officials must be charged on the market rates for occupying houses in Peshawar," he added.

Nighat Yasmin Orakzai of the Pakistan Muslim League urged the government to announce an increase in salaries and other emoluments of the NWFP lawmakers instead of doling out more and more funds to the bureaucrats. The NWFP lawmakers were paid less than the Balochistan MPAs, she added.

Finance Minister Sirajul Haq said the government had made a Rs190 million cut this year in the demand for the department, which was a proof of austerity measures taken by it.

Later, all the movers withdrew their cut motions and the house granted the demand.

The house also granted Rs213.83 million for finance and local fund audit, Rs54 million for the planning and development department andthe statistics division, Rs9.72 million for the information technology department and Rs319.55 million for the revenue and estate department.

The finance minister introduced the Bank of Khyber (Amendment) Bill, 2004, in the house.