PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finance minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra on Tuesday said his government would struggle to manage the payment of salary to its employees in tribal districts following the centre’s decision to cap the region’s current budget for the next fiscal.

“It will be a challenge for us to fund the salaries as the federal government has left around 25 per cent of the tribal districts’ pay bill unfunded. The local doctors, teachers and other government employees should know about it,” the minister told a post-budget news conference.

Mr Jhagra flayed the centre for ‘curtailing’ the tribal districts’ administrative budget.

Social welfare minister Anwar Zeb Khan, spokesman for the government Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, additional chief secretary Shahab Ali Shah and other senior officials were also present on the occasion.

Jhagra alleges MNA, JUI-F minister opposed increase in ex-Fata funding by centre

The finance minister said the tribal districts’ current budget stood at Rs77 billion in the ongoing fiscal, including Rs60 billion for pay and pension payments and Rs17 for the rehabilitation of internally displaced persons.

He said during the current year, the centre did not release Rs11.6 billion allocated for the displaced parsons’ rehabilitation and Rs8.5 billion for development.

Mr Jhagra said the federal government had allocated Rs60 billion for the tribal districts’ current budget in the next fiscal.

He wondered how the centre could freeze the region’s current budget when the size of divisible pool was increasing.

“There are no legal and constitutional grounds for freezing the tribal region’s budget,” he said.

The minister said the ‘situation of tribal districts was frightening’.

He questioned how the provincial government would manage Rs90 billion expenses with Rs60 billion allocations.

He said the decision to slash the tribal districts development funds was made after a discussion in the federal cabinet.

Mr Jhagra said if it was up to the PM Shehbaz Sharif-led ‘imported’ government, they would have also stopped the transfers of divisible pool proceeds.

He accused MNA from North Waziristan tribal district Mohsin Dawar and JUI-F federal minister for communication Asad Mahmood for opposing a funding increase for tribal districts.

The minister said his government would take the opposition along for the protection of the province’s rights.

He, however, said since the provincial opposition was part of the ruling alliance in the centre, those ruling parties should raise voice for the province’s rights in Islamabad.

Mr Jhagra said the provincial government had allocated Rs37 billion for two-tier of local government system in the province.

He said Rs5.2 million development funds had been allocated for over 3,500 village councils across the province and the money earmarked for the tehsil chairmen, mayors and tehsil municipal administrations was in addition to that funding.

The minister said KP was the country’s only province, where village councils existed.

Regarding the province’s mega projects, he said the PTI government was going to start Rs26 billion Insaf Food Card scheme for 10 million people across the province, while Rs1 billion education scholarship programme was also on the cards.

Mr Jhagra said the provincial government had included several major projects, including Swat Motorway Phase-II, Dir Motorway, Peshawar-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway and Chashma Right Bank Canal project in the next development budget.

He said the government would make 58 category C and D hospitals functional in the next five days across the province in collaboration with the private sector.

The minister said Rs25-Rs30 billion loans would be given away through the Bank of Khyber to address joblessness.

On the occasion, ACS Shahab Ali Shah said 481 development schemes would be completed in the province by the end of the current month and 556 by next June.

Published in Dawn,June 15th, 2022