PESHAWAR: Members of the treasury and opposition benches in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday agreed to slap checks on the ‘luxury’ lifestyle of the bureaucracy in the province through the house’s standing committee on administration.

The two sides reached the understanding during the question hour of the house when two women members of the opposition raised the issue of the allotment of vehicles and houses to senior officers in the province.

Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani through a ruling directed the standing committee to submit its report to the assembly within a month.

The chair also directed the government to produce a list of the officers occupying more than one official house.

Awami National Party MPA Shagufta Malik through her question sought the details of the official vehicles purchased for administrative secretaries, additional secretaries, deputy secretaries, commissioners, additional commissioners, assistant commissioners and other officials between 2013 and 2019.

Speaker seeks PA panel’s report on vehicles, houses allotted to senior officers

Through her question, she had asked the department concerned to furnish the details of the officers, pay scale, ranks, and place of posting and vehicles’ model along with allotment letters, company name, and engine cubic centimeter and horsepower.

Ms Shagufta also sought details of the competent authority, who allotted vehicles to these officers.

The administration department produced details of only 19 vehicles purchased by the government between 2013 and 2019.

The official reply said the commissioners of Malakand, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Hazara and Kohat were provided with Toyota Fortuner (4x4 A/T 2400CC), 2018 model.

A summary moved by the administration department in 2017 had proposed the purchase of 2700cc jeeps for all seven commissioners with their cost totalling Rs38.045 million.

Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Nighat Yasmin Orakzai while supporting the mover said bureaucrats had been provided with vehicles beyond their entitlement.

She said many officers had been allotted more than two vehicles.

Ms Nighat said the elected representatives were allotted used cars, while low-rank officers were provided with branded vehicles, accommodation, medical and other facilities.

She said rules were being violated in the allotment of vehicles to officers, so the question should be referred to the committee concerned.

“Bureaucrats will have fun, while infamy will pile on politicians,” she told the chair.

Minister for law and parliamentary affairs Sultan Mohammad Khan did not object to the opposition’s viewpoint and said the treasury would not oppose if the matter was referred to the committee.

“This is a very important issue, so it needs serious discussion,” he said.

Another question moved by MPA Nighat Orakzai regarding the unauthorised occupation of official residences by the some officers was also referred to the relevant committee.

Ms Nighat said the Peshawar High Court had ordered the cancellation of out-of-turn allotment of official houses to the government employees.

She claimed that the court order had not been implemented.

The lawmaker said the department was hiding details about the allotment of houses to officers in the province as some senior officers had occupied more than one residence.

She also claimed that the principal secretary to the prime minister did not vacate official house in Peshawar despite allotment of house in Islamabad.

The law minister opposed the contention of the mover.

On the occasion, senior minister Mohammad Atif Khan said the government would not let anybody violate the law.

He said the law did not entitle any officer to retain one official house in Peshawar and one in Islamabad at the same time.

Mr Atif said the treasury would not oppose if the question was referred to the committee.

Responding to a calling attention notice, he said the government would consider the proposal of the opposition to give subsidy on liquefied petroleum gas in mountainous areas in order to protect the local forests.

Opposition MPAs Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha and Inayatullah Khan proposed subsidy on firewood and LPG in hilly areas of Hazara and Malakand divisions.

They said an increase in the LPG price had forced communities in hilly areas to burn woods that posed serious threat to forests.

MPA Sardar Babak said KP produced surplus natural gas and under the Constitution, it was the right of the people of the province to get gas supply and later, it should be provided to other provinces.

He said if the formula was adopted, the province would not need to levy subsidy on LPG to the consumers.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2020