PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has linked its approval of the proposed Rs178 billion budget surplus, a requirement for the International Monetary Fund’s bailout package, to the federal government’s promise to address the province’s financial issues.

The approval is contingent on the Federal Board of Revenue meeting its revenue target for the current financial year, according to an official statement issued here after the cabinet’s meeting on Saturday.

“If the centre is seeking our contributions to the surplus budget target [set for the IMF loan deal], it should fulfil its commitments to us as well. We will approve the budget only if the federal government addresses our financial issues, as agreed by the federal finance secretary,” adviser to the chief minister on information Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif told Dawn.

The cabinet met with Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in the chair and ministers, advisers and special assistants to the CM, senior member board of revenue, additional chief secretaries, and relevant administrative secretaries in attendance.

Cabinet says Gandhara Corridor a provincial matter, so federal govt shouldn’t legislate on it

The participants examined a memorandum of understanding regarding the shared fiscal responsibilities for the financial year 2024-25 to be signed between the federal government and all provincial governments.

The MoU was initially presented before the cabinet on June 27. After discussion, the cabinet tasked the adviser to the chief minister on finance with addressing the provincial financial issues with the federal government. A delegation of the provincial government took up the issue with the federal finance secretary on July 2.

The cabinet also discussed the Gandhara Corridor Act, 2024, proposed by the federal government and insisted that the Gandhara Corridor was KP’s cultural heritage and a provincial matter.

It decided to convey its reservations on the matter to the federal government, with the advice against legislation about it.

The cabinet approved a report from a ministerial committee, which was formed to investigate the engagement of private testing agencies by departments and KP offices in violation of the government’s orders.

The committee, headed by the local government minister, was formed by the provincial cabinet on March 28 with the mandate to assess capacity of the Educational Testing and Evaluation Agency, examine cases of tests assigned to private testing agencies, and seek explanations from the administrative departments, which didn’t adhere to the cabinet’s decision about the holding of recruitment tests through the Etea.

The cabinet approved monthly sustenance and food ration allowance to the additional 554 internally displaced families of the North Waziristan tribal district.

The approval came for the release of Rs359.318 million on the monthly basis instead of Rs348 million to meet the current requirement, Rs100.71 million for clearance of pending liability of 554 families from October 2023 to June 2024, according to the official statement.

It also okayed the provision of Rs551.9 million to the provincial disaster management authority for the provision of tents, non-food items and cooked food to 6,455 families returning to the Rajgal valley in Khyber tribal district.

The cabinet also approved the declaration of emergency under Section 16(A) for the NDM Act, 2010, for necessary arrangements, as well as the proposed amendments to the KP Mines and Minerals Act, 2017, for strengthening the legislative framework of the mineral sector to attract investment.

The participants also discussed and approved the proposed provision of Rs62 million as the operation and maintenance costs of the Chashma Right Bank Canal.

The Chashma Right Bank Canal was constructed to irrigate a total of 606,000 acres of land, including 366,000 acres in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 240,000 acres in Punjab. Being an inter-provincial canal, its operation and maintenance are carried out by the Wapda. It is governed by an agreement on sharing operation and maintenance cost on a 50:50 basis that was signed by the governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab as well as Wapda in 2002.

In the meeting, the cabinet also approved the second revision in PC-I for the Shakai Small Dam in South Waziristan tribal district. The revised PC-I promises the irrigation of 1400 acres of “command area to uplift the socio-economic condition of the community,” according to the statement.

The cabinet decided to reconstitute the academic search committee to start afresh the exercise to appoint vice-chancellors to the public sector universities in the province in line with the law.

On the recommendation of the food department, the cabinet conditionally ratified the decision of the Economic Coordination Council about sugar export. It allowed the export of sugar from the province’s sugar mills only after the start of the upcoming crushing season.

The participants examined a summary for the infrastructure development and capacity building of the home department as a non-ADP scheme at a tentative cost of Rs140 million before approving it to address the shortage of offices in the home and tribal affairs department and purchase the necessary information technology equipment along with furniture for the department.

They also approved the special grant-in-aid of Rs120 million for the Peshawar Institute of Cardiology and decided to return the Hamala House in Nathiagali to the “assembly being its sole asset in northern areas for accommodating foreign and national delegations.”

The Hamala House was transferred to the culture and tourism department in 2020 based on a decision of the previous provincial cabinet.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2024