June 28, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 23, 1429

PESHAWAR, June 27: NWFP Finance Minister Mohammad Humayun Khan on Friday presented a supplementary budget of Rs18.565 billion containing Rs13.037 billion for state trading in food, grains and sugar for the previous fiscal year, 2007-2008.

Tabling the budget statement in the provincial assembly, the minister said the government had to grapple with an acute shortage of wheat and flour, which was a carryover of previous years. But, he said, the present coalition government had tackled the issue wisely by taking new and effective measures. He denied that the supplementary budget was in any way a cut in the Annual Development Programme.

He said the finance department had made internal arrangements for the supplementary budget. He said the administration department used to pay utility bills of the finance department. He said it had been noticed that the monitoring system dealing with consumption of electricity had proved beneficial and economical.

Opening debate on the supplementary budget, Abdul Akbar Khan said it was an access budget statement than a supplementary budget statement. He said he wanted to know from which source the finance department had managed Rs18 billion if it had not transferred funds from development allocations. He said the province had its fixed receipts which could not be increased and the only option left with the planners was to shift funds from the ADP.

He objected over the heavy spending of Rs683 million by the general administration and said it was unbelievable that the department could burn more than its annual allocations. Despite the declining law and order situation, he said, the police department had also spent over Rs1,466 million. He was of the view that the finance department had misused Article 124 of the Constitution, which permitted it to make additional expenditure for a particular service, which was not included in the annual budget statement for that year.

He said he hoped the finance minister would explain about the additional expenditures.

Israrullah Khan Gandapur said the volume of the supplementary budget in 2002-2003 was Rs2.5 billion, but it had now increased to Rs18 billion. He said it was a burden on the poor of the province, who had no access even to basic needs. Endorsing objections of Abdul Akbar, he said expenditures of the Frontier House and Governor’s House were increased year after year. He said the establishment department had burnt Rs560 million. He asked the minister to explain the rationale of spending a heavy amount of Rs4 billion on transportation of wheat to the province.

Mufti Kifaytullah of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal did not speak on the budget and instead said people were being threatened that some sort of Taliban were going to take over Peshawar. He said the impression was being created deliberately that the provincial capital was infested with law-breakers residing in the city’s seminaries. He said it was a move to pave the way for operation, but they (religious forces) would not allow anybody to repeat the action of Jamia Hafsa.

Despite the speaker’s advice to speak on the budget, he called upon the government to release the detained orator of the Lal Masjid, Maulana Abdul Aziz.

Wajihuzzaman said if Punjab was not ready to lift ban on transportation of wheat to the Frontier province, the government should suspend power supply to Punjab.

He said a huge amount of permanent subsidy was a matter of loss and the government should find out ways to make barren areas arable.