KP Opposition Rejects Passage Of Supplementary Budget

The opposition members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday rejected the passage of supplementary budget by the treasury benches citing a lack of any plan to pay back mounting debt

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th May, 2024) The opposition members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Friday rejected the passage of supplementary budget by the treasury benches citing a lack of any plan to pay back mounting debt.

They noted that the government had no money to pay the salaries of employees as the revenues were decreasing.

Taking part in the debate in the House on the passage of surplus budget for the financial year 2023-24, Leader of the Opposition Dr Ibadullah said that supplementary budgets were passed in emergencies, extraordinary situations or significant decrease of receipts.

He said that the supplementary budget of Rs 306 billion showed that there was an increase of 36 percent in the annual budget. He alleged that the figures mentioned in the documents were misleading and devoid of facts.

Dr Ibadullah said that unnecessary recruitment had been carried out in the livestock department, the Sehat Card scheme lacked transparency and the BRT system had turned into a white elephant while allocations meant for the salaries were spent developmental schemes to woo the voters during the election year.

He said that allocation of Rs 1.3 billion for the BRT showed that the mega transport scheme was facing losses. A private company had filed a case against the BRT while the Peshawar Development Authority had no funds to hire a defence lawyer, he added.

Dr Ibadullah said that they were not against the Sehat Card but the procedure to run the scheme lacked transparency. He called for an audit of the scheme as it involved a huge amount of public money.

He said that the government had failed to increase its receipts. He also criticized government for not utilizing the income of Swat Expressway on the welfare of people of Malakand.

Opposition member Adnan Khan said that ground realities and financial position of the province were not taken into consideration in the supplementary budget. They were ready to help the government but the figures and data presented in the budget must be verified.