Caretaker Provincial Government Managed To Steer Province Out Of Financial Crunches: CM

Caretaker Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Justice (R) Syed Arshad Hussain Shah on Monday said that when he took charge of the office, the province was faced with acute financial crunches and there was no cushion available even to pay the salaries of employees, but through better teamwork and effective strategy, the caretaker provincial government managed to steer the province out of the financial crunches

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Feb, 2024) Caretaker Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Justice (R) Syed Arshad Hussain Shah on Monday said that when he took charge of the office, the province was faced with acute financial crunches and there was no cushion available even to pay the salaries of employees, but through better teamwork and effective strategy, the caretaker provincial government managed to steer the province out of the financial crunches.

Addressing a press conference regarding the achievements of his government here. Flanked by provincial ministers Barrister Feroze Jamal Shah Kakakhel, Ahmad Rasool Banagash, Dr. Najeeb Ullah and others, he said that at this point there existed an amount of Rs.100 billion in the provincial exchequer, whereas during the period the caretaker government did not borrow even a single penny from any financial institution.

He said that the issue of the outstanding dues of the province against the federal government was effectively taken up at the federal level which yielded fruitful results.

He said that the provincial government was able to receive an additional amount of Rs. 64 billion from the center adding that an amount of Rs. 4.1 billion was received through reconciliation between KP Revenue Authority and Federal Board of

Revenue, an additional amount of Rs. 20 billion was received under National Finance Commission Award, an amount of Rs. 28 billion was received under AIP for the merged districts whereas an amount of Rs. 12 billion was received in the head of Net Hydel Profit .

The CM said that despite the difficult law and order situation, the caretaker provincial government was able to hold the General Elections peacefully and transparently for which he is thankful to Allah Almighty and added that all this was possible because of the hard work and close coordination of civil administration, armed forces, police and other relevant entities for which they deserve huge appreciation.

Touching upon the achievements in the education sector, Syed Arshad Hussain Shah remarked that with the collaboration of Pak Army and Frontier Corps, “Education for All Campaign” was launched in the province under which 33,000 children were enrolled in schools, 134 dis-functional schools were functionalized, Digital Skills Labs were established in 10 different schools, 250 teachers were hired under Parents Teacher Council Funds and 961 students were provided with Hostel facility.

“In Planning and Development sector, 57 developmental projects worth Rs. 206 billion were cleared from PDWP, different mega projects worth Rs. 109 billion were cleared from ECNEC, similarly PC-1 of 1337 km long roads and 62 bridges worth Rs. 105 billion were cleared under Rural Roads Development Projects”, he said adding that rationalization of 376 developmental projects was carried out resulting in a saving of Rs.

24 billion to the provincial exchequer.

Regarding achievements in Energy and Power sector, the chief minister said electrification of three union councils in district Shangla was completed with a cost of Rs.485 million, an amount of Rs. 5.5 billion was received from the electricity produced by the provincial government being supplied to the National Grid, successful negotiations were made with Asian Development Bank and European Union for the rehabilitation of flood-affected Ranolia Hydro Power projects and Mini Micro Hydro power projects respectively.

Touching upon the Mines and Minerals sector, he stated that during his tenure Mines & Mineral Profit Sharing Rules 2023 were framed and approved, 400 licensee were issued for attracting private investments whereas Rs.2.7 billion would be received under the head of Royalty and Excise Duty.

About Information Technology sector, the chief minister remarked that KP's Right of Way Policy was approved, the status of Special Technology Zone was given to Digital City Haripur, and Digital Workspace was launched in 32 departments.

Syed Arshad Hussain Shah specially mentioned his efforts for the newly merged districts and said that medical equipment worth billions of rupees was provided to the hospitals of merged districts, 13 hospitals of the merged districts were outsourced to improve healthcare services, industrial activities were started in the Economic Zones of merged districts whereas feasibility was carried out for setting up Economic Zones in Kurram and Wana. “Khushal Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Program was launched with its main features being Good Governance, Zero Tolerance Policy against corruption, reforms in revenue system, crackdown against illegal encroachments and narcotics etc”.

He maintained and added that under the Human Resource Export Strategy of the caretaker government, result-oriented steps were taken to export five hundred thousand youth to International job markets after being imparted market-based training in technical education and IT sectors.

Touching upon the health sector, the Chief Minister stated that steps were taken for the establishment of two medical universities, enhancement of 3,000 seats in medical and dental colleges of the province, enhancement of seats in nursing colleges, enhancement of 150 seats for Trainee Medical Officers and creating 60 internships for Physiotherapist adding that quantum computing was introduced in the province whereas 20,000 google scholarships were obtained for the youth of the province.

He extended special thanks to civil bureaucracy, police, armed forces, media and the general public for their support during his tenure as chief minister.

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