• Opposition calls budget discriminatory, favouring select areas, individuals
• Rs88.19bn set for non-development expenses, Rs37bn for uplift projects
GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly on Thursday approved a Rs148.63 billion budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 with a majority vote, despite vehement opposition from lawmakers who alleged the budget favoured specific people and areas while concealing significant allocations.
The budget session, chaired by Speaker Nazir Ahmed Advocate, saw heated debates as opposition leader Kazim Mesum criticised the allocation of funds.
“It is a discrimination against the GB people to allocate funds for particular people and areas,” Mr Mesum said during the session.
He further alleged that the federal government had removed the Thak and Gawari power projects from the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP).
The approved budget allocated Rs88.19bn for non-development expenditures and Rs37bn for development projects.
A 10 per cent increase in the salaries of government employees, along with approvals for various allowances, has also been granted.
Federal-level projects now also include Gilgit-Baltistan, with Rs11bn allocated under the PSDP and Rs4bn earmarked for the Prime Minister’s Programme.
Moreover, Rs20bn have been allocated for wheat subsidy with non-tax revenue target set at Rs7.89bn.
The budget also allocated Rs147bn for education and Rs1.25bn for health, including Rs620m for the Health Endowment Fund.
Additionally, the budget allocated Rs 350m for agriculture, livestock and fisheries, Rs 90m for tourism promotion and Rs 100m for information technology development.
Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan defended the budget, calling it “people-friendly” and “historic.” He said, “Despite allocating funds for new development projects, funds have been allocated to complete the incomplete projects.”
The opposition, however, remained unconvinced, maintaining that the budget process lacked transparency and fairness.
Opposition member Javed Ali Manwa called the budget “anti-poor, anti-members, anti-people, anti-politicians and anti-masses.” He added, “Opposition members will not favour the biased budget.”
Mr Manwa also alleged that the government had failed to provide development schemes to assembly members, instead allocated Rs30m to the chief minister.
Syed Sohail Abbas, another opposition member, described the budget as a “fraud with people”. Jamil Ahmed, a treasury member from PPP, said, “No allocation funds for new schemes is discrimination.”
Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2025
