PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finance department has banned all departments from creating posts, purchasing vehicles, and holding seminars and workshops in five-star hotels.

The ban is part of the austerity measures and budget guidelines notified by the finance department for the current fiscal year.

The measures approved by the provincial cabinet on May 24 have been circulated to all government departments, according to a document of the finance department.

It revealed that there would be a complete ban on the creation of posts but development projects would be an exception. However, the chief minister could relax the ban on the case-to-case basis in the case of exigency.

The finance department also said the purchase of vehicles would be banned with the exception of ambulances, earth-moving machinery, fire trucks, tractor trucks, buses, passenger vans, prisoners vans, motorcycles, bowser trucks, recovery and rescue vehicles, and rescue and lifesaving boats.

Notifies austerity measures, budget guidelines for all depts

It also stopped all departments from participating in foreign workshops, seminars and training programmes involving the provincial government’s funds.

Also, there will be a ban on holding seminars and workshops in five-star hotels involving provincial funds as well as on overseas treatment at the government’s expense.

The document read that the cabinet also banned extension in the contractual period of project employees unless it was justified by the relevant administrative departments and decided in consultation with the finance department.

“All administrative secretaries and heads of autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies, being principal accounting officers, shall conduct meetings of the departmental accounts committee regularly so as to ensure internal audit of their respective departments and organisations. Expenditure shall be restricted to the funds released and the administrative departments shall not incur expenditure in anticipation of additional or supplementary grants,” it said.

The department said in order to improve efficiency in revenue collection, the provincial revenue review committee would meet regularly under the chairmanship of the finance minister to review the performance of all revenue collecting entities of the provincial government and to propose structural changes, performance indicators, legal reforms, and other realignments in the procedures.

It added that contingent workers would be hired in 2024-25 only after the approval of the finance department.

“No appointments will be made to ‘leave vacancies’ without the finance department’s prior approval, while there won’t be any appointments to vacancies, except by promotion, without the issuance of the No Objection Certificate by the relevant surplus pool,” it said.

The department said the principal accounting officers would ensure that no appointment is made to vacant posts of “dying” cadres and disciplinary proceedings were taken over such past appointments.

It added that no development schemes involving the creation of posts or the purchase of vehicles, machinery, equipment, or furniture would be considered without prior clearance.

“All autonomous bodies, medical teaching institutions, other institutions, and authorities under the provincial government will adopt these austere measures within their respective organisations with the approval of competent forums,” it said in the letter.

The finance department said the planning and development department would initiate district and sectoral plans spread over the next three years as part of the mid-term development framework for the purpose of improved planning and eliminating wasteful expenditure.

Published in Dawn, July 5th, 2024