PESHAWAR, July 9: The NWFP Assembly was the biggest spender of public money over the past five years. The assembly spend Rs600 million during its tenure. The funds spent by incumbent NWFP Assembly have exceeded the spending by all the secretariats, the governor’s, and the chief minister’s houses and the 16-member provincial cabinet.

Statistics given in the budget documents show an upward trend in the expenditures incurred on the overall functioning of the provincial assembly.

For instance, in financial year 2002-03, when the provincial assembly wasn’t functional, an amount of Rs65.873 million was spent on its functioning which was in line with the actual allocations made in beginning of that fiscal year.

However, the expenditures not only witnessed a gradual surge in subsequent fiscal years, but also surpassed the estimates worked out for a particular year.

Budget estimates reflect that spending in the fiscal year 2003-04 by the provincial assembly remained at Rs101.161 million followed by Rs119 million in 2004-05 and Rs120.024 million in 2005-06.

In 2006-07, however, this trend witnessed a change. An amount of Rs155.040 million was allocated for the assembly’s overall functioning, but unlike previous years. the actual spending remained at Rs140.174 million. The government has earmarked an amount of Rs153.858 million for the assembly in the current financial year 2007-08. This amount will be spent on salaries, allowances, etc., of its employees and members of the provincial assembly.

An amount of Rs104.500 million will be spent on employee-related expenses, while Rs49.358 million has been earmarked for the parliamentary affairs, including allowances for MPAs and other expenses.