PESHAWAR, June 18: Terming non-payment of net hydel profit share as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s biggest issue, provincial finance minister Sirajul Haq on Tuesday said Water and Power Development Authority and the federal bureaucracy were creating problems for the province.

“Wapda and federal bureaucracy are the main hurdle to the fulfilment of the constitutional right of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Non-payment of net hydel profit is a joke with the people of the province and a clear violation of Article 161 of the Constitution,” he told the post-budget news conference here.

The minister said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had known potential of generating 25,000 megawatts.

“Why does not the federal government invest money in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to exploit its known hydel power generation potential instead of opting for costly and controversial Bhasha dam and Kalabagh dam projects,” he said.

Mr Haq said the size of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s budget could have been raised to Rs1,000 billion instead of its size of Rs344 billion for the next financial year if Wapda paid the province’s annual net hydel profit share in full in line with the Constitution.

He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was placed at a difficult position after Wapda did not pay anything against the province’s net hydel profit share for the outgoing financial year and that the province had projected its capped net hydel profits share for the outgoing financial year at Rs6 billion.

The minister, however, said non-payment of NHP share was not only an issue of the provincial government or any single party.

“We don’t want to confront the federal government on NHP and rather, we want to present it as a necessity,” he said, adding the provincial government intended to take all stakeholders and political parties into confidence to evolve a consensus to seek justice from the federal government.

He said the centre would be contacted only after developing consensus.

Mr Haq said Jamaat-i-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf believed in to be a different government and that their coalition government had attempted, in the next financial year’s budget, to reduce the Chief Minister House’s and the Governor House’s expenditure by 50 per cent.

Similarly, the provincial government, he said, had introduced education emergency and declared energy emergency to fulfill its promises with the masses.

The minister said the government believed in devolving authority to the grassroots level and in this respect it would take authority down to the village level in 1,000 villages. In this respect, the government, he added, specified Rs1 billion to introduce new local government system in the province.

He said the local government act introduced by the last government on Jan 1, 2013 would be studied, while necessary changes would be incorporated into it to implement the new government’s vision.

Mr Haq said in an effort to introduce reforms to facilitate general public, the provincial government would bring about necessary change in the land record system, nailing down patwaris to end their corrupt practices.

He said the government would gradually computerise the land record system in phases.

The minister said the government would improve its line departments’ day to day working, enhancing their efficiency.

“The finance department has been asked to introduce a system under which all departments should provide details of their daily performance,” he said, adding that it would improve governance and end the VIP culture.

Mr Haq said major reforms were being introduced to reform police stations’ official working, ending the old aged thana (police station) culture in the province.

He said a mechanism of community jirgas would be introduced to work in proximity with the area police to control crimes and resolve local disputes.

Similarly, he added, the government has decided to introduce a stipend scheme for the jobless youth with MA degrees or equivalent qualification to help them meet their expenses while trying to find jobs after leaving their educational institutions.

The minister said the government would continue its predecessor’s monthly stipend scheme to increase enrolment of female students at the primary level.

The government, he added, had introduced another initiative to encourage safe pre-natal practices and discourage expected mothers going to unqualified birth attendants.

“In this respect, every woman expecting a child would be paid Rs200 per visit to gynecologist to promote safe practices. Every woman giving birth to a child would be paid Rs1,000 to encourage them to use public hospitals and get treatment from qualified gynecologists. The scheme would be meant for under-developed parts of the province.”

Responding to a question about Jamaat-i-Islami’s announced plan of imparting military training to men and women ages 18 to 35 years as part of its strategy to promote the spirit of jihad in the nation and the armed forces, Mr Siraj said the party was not shy of supporting its commitment.

“I personally believe that the caliphate system provides the best answer to end world’s miseries and its introduction in Pakistan,” said Mr Haq, adding “Jamaat-i-Islami would be able to fulfil its commitment once it has full authority.”About the military training programme, he said Jamaat-i-Islami wanted to implement its programme because it believed that only the armed forces could not protect the country.

“Had it been possible then East Pakistan’s debacle would not have happened and Russia would not have dismembered,” said the minister.