PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Finance Sirajul Haq said here on Sunday that provincial government presented a poor-friendly and austerity-oriented budget for next financial year 2014-15.

Addressing a post-budget press conference, he said that government allocated Rs7.90 billion for initiating pro-poor schemes like health insurance scheme, insulin for life, mother and child health programme and nursing training programme.

The budget, which was unveiled on Saturday, however, doesn’t suggest short and long term plans to contain current expenditure, which is 71 per cent of the total outlay.

To a question during the press conference, the minister admitted that expansion in public sector was a matter of concern for the provincial government.

Claims KP govt presented austerity-oriented budget

“It is impossible for the government to overcome unemployment by offering jobs to few thousands people”, he admitted government’s inability to come up with a viable plan to overcome this serious issue in the province. He said that about 15,000 new jobs would be provided to people in public sector.The minister said that he also recognised the importance of private sector as it could play crucial role in provision of jobs in the province.

Mr Haq said that provincial government had discussed plan with the federal government to generate 400 megawatts electricity through natural gas and oil that would be provided to various industrial units at cheap rate. It would attract investors and around 400,000 jobs would be created, he said.

The minister said that new industrial zones would be established in the province. He said that investors in Punjab were ready to shift their investment to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that under the constitution, the province could utilise oil and gas for fulfilling its own requirements.Mr Haq said that 350 small hydel generation power units would be installed in Malakand and Hazara divisions at an estimated cost of Rs7 billion. But he did not mention as to how much electricity would be produced through these units.

The press conference of the finance minister, who is also central emir of Jamaat-i-Islami, was based on narratives and replete with blames against the federal government. He held internal and external policies of the federal government responsible for the economic woes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The minister said that lawlessness prevailed in the province because of the flawed policies of the federal government. That’s why investors were running away from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, he said.

However, the minister was contradicting himself as in his budget speech he announced that government would construct houses for government employees including administrative secretaries, ministers and lawmakers on 10-marla plots to promote austerity and culture of equality.

But in the post-budget press conference, he changed his earlier statement and said that new residential quarters would be constructed on 20-marla plots.

When asked about contradiction in his statements, the minister said that he had given proposal in the cabinet meeting but majority of the members opposed it. He said that ban was imposed on treatment at government’s expenditures abroad.

Mr Haq said that government would not finance travel of employees and representatives outside the country for training, workshop or seminar.

He said that for launching a special package for provision of cheap edibles items to destitute and low-income classes was being prepared in the province and during next financial year a subsidy of Rs6 billion would be provided.

The minister said that government announced education emergency and allocated a record collective amount of Rs111 billion for elementary, secondary, higher and technical education, which was 33.16 per cent of the current expenditure and 27.47 per cent of the total annual budget.

He said that besides launching 69 projects worth Rs29 billion under Clean and Green Peshawar Plan, a mass transit system was also being introduced in the city. He said that Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had promised to resolve the longstanding issues of net hydel profit between Wapda and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The minister said that immunisation programme, Rokhana Pakhtunkhwa Programme, Iqra Education Promotion and Voucher Scheme, scholarship scheme for girl students of Torghar district, Stori De Pakhtunkhwa, Third Party Validation, long-term loans for industrial development and provincial youth technical education scheme were major initiatives of the government.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2014