PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Peoples Party has alleged massive corruption in government departments of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and claimed that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s government had done nothing for the welfare of residents.

PPP provincial president Syed Mohammad Ali Shah Bacha told a news conference here that the provincial government recently presented a report on its one-year performance and falsely claimed to have achieved 25 targets during the period.

Accompanied by PPP MPA Ahmad Karim Kundi and other office-bearers, he said the government’s progress report consisted of the minutes of the cabinet meetings and assembly proceedings and “nothing else.”

He said that the provincial government was least interested in fulfilling its commitments and wasted the last six months in staging rallies and protest sit-ins against the federal government.

Flays PTI govt over ‘failure’ to ensure people’s welfare

“The government’s performance belies the election manifesto of the ruling PTI,” he said.

Mr Bacha said in its manifesto, the PTI had promised to make Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a corruption-free province, ensure peace and empower youth, but those promises had yet to be fulfilled.

He alleged that since Ali Amin Gandapur had become the chief minister a year ago, the levels of corruption in the province had increased.

The PPP leader alleged that corruption was common in wheat procurement and recruitment in different public departments.

He resented the “poor” law and order situation in the province and criticised the PTI government for being unable to restore peace in Kurram saying innocent people are killed in the tribal district.

Mr Bacha also complained about the recent terrorist attacks in Akora Khattak (Nowshera), Bajaur and Bannu district and said the government had miserably failed to protect public life and property.

He said that the provincial government had failed to take any effective steps to improve the local economy.

The PPP leader said the province won’t receive investment unless there was sustainable peace.

He accused the provincial government of failing to initiate a single development scheme in the province and alleged that the ruling PTI was promoting corruption.

Mr Bacha said the government had done nothing for development of the education sector, creation of jobs and promotion of sports.

“Instead of keeping its promise of providing 10 million jobs to the educated youth, the PTI government dismissed 25,000 employees,” he said.

The PPP leader said that the provincial government imposed tax on agricultural income instead of facilitating growers.

He said it was the government’s duty to provide soft agricultural loans and subsidies to farmers, but that hadn’t happened during the PTI’s rule.

Mr Bacha also complained that millions of children in the province were out of school.

He said the local educational institutions lacked basic facilities, with the cause of education being the ultimate sufferer.

MPA Kundi declared the provincial government a “complete failure” on every front and said the ruling PTI was accusing the federal government of not releasing funds to it but failed to raise voice for it effectively.

He said it was the prime duty of the provincial government to restore peace in the province, but it had failed to do so. The lawmaker said the province had become a hub of terrorists.

He said the government lacked capability to manage the province’s affairs and that was evident from the poor financial conditions of public universities.

“There are no vice chancellors in more than 20 universities, while drug use is rampant in educational institutions. Around 5.5 million children are out of school,” he said, announcing the start of a protest movement against the agriculture tax in the province after Eidul Fitr.

Mr Kundi also said that the contractors of government projects were struggling to receive due payments.

He also complained that the government had yet not appointed the finance minister.

“Local government representatives are not getting due powers and funds to initiate development schemes,” he said.

The lawmaker claimed that the PPP would continue fighting for the rights of the province. He said the Governor’s House hosted a convention for local government representatives and farmers to highlight their problems.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2025