PESHAWAR, June 24: The provincial government has constituted a commission of four members, two each from the opposition and treasury benches, to monitor the performance of line departments and execution of development schemes identified in the annual development programme.

Concluding the budget debate in the NWFP Assembly here on Friday, Finance Minister Sirajul Haq informed the house that the cabinet had constituted a two-member commission comprising provincial ministers Fazle Rabbani and Asif Iqbal Daudzai to monitor the performance of executing agencies involved in development work. He said the government had decided to include two opposition MPAs in the commission to make it more effective. Mr Haq asked the opposition to nominate two of their members.

The minister said the commission would ensure that funds allocated for development schemes were spent properly. The body would keep a vigil on the ‘commission mafia’ which was fully entrenched in every department, the minister added.

Mr Haq thanked all those lawmakers who lauded the stand of the MMA government on provincial rights. He said the government, opposition groups and all other political parties had made concerted efforts to secure the NWFP’s financial rights.

He said the government had allocated equal funds for every MPA under the Tamir-i-Watan programme.

Mr Haq said the World Bank was satisfied with the performance of the NWFP government and expressed the hope that the bank would continue its financial support for the SAC-III and SAC-IV schemes. Despite paucity of resources, he said, the MMA government had gained the confidence of donor agencies and had been doing well in the social sector.

The minister denied that President Gen Pervez Musharraf would present any formula for distribution of funds under the National Finance Commission award. He said Gen Musharraf was the president and he had offered his good offices to the chief ministers to help resolve this issue. The four chief ministers and the centre were parties to the issue and they would have to sort it out. If Punjab was not ready to listen to the demands of smaller provinces, Balochistan and the NWFP would suffer, Mr Haq added.

He urged the federal government to pay Rs345 billion in net hydel profit to the province. “The NWFP government accepts the A.G.N. Kazi formula as the only yardstick for the determination of the net hydel profit. We will not accept any other formula,” he said.

According to him, the NWFP government had taken a number of steps to improve the social sector. “We have handed out free of charge books up to matriculation in all the 24 districts. We have waived property tax on up to a five-marla house and land tax on 40 kanals,” he added.

He criticized Wapda for its unscheduled load-shedding which had become a permanent feature in the province. The authority, he said, used to issue inflated bills to the general consumers, including the provincial government departments.

The recent exploration of natural gas in Gurguri in Karak and Shakar Darra in Kohat were good signs for the future development of the province and it would bring prosperity to the people. He said the government had cordial relations with the opposition in the NWFP and this would strengthen democracy in the province.

He said the government would not treat opposition MPAs the way opposition MPAs were treated in the Punjab Assembly. “We are democrats. We welcome positive and constructive criticism,” he added.

Later, Abdul Akbar Khan of the People’s Party Parliamentarians tabled a resolution, demanding at least Rs5 billion of emergency assistance from Islamabad for the flood-affected people of the NWFP. The house unanimously adopted the resolution.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Shahzada Gustasip, Mushtaq Ahmed Ghani of PML-Q, Atiqur Rehman of the Awami National Party, Qurban Ali of the PPP spoke on the budget.

Speaker Bakht Jehan Khan later adjourned the house till Monday.