Discrimination on funds echoes in assembly

Threaten to take the matter to court

PESHAWAR:

Opposition benches in the provincial assembly on Tuesday once again created an uproar over discriminations in development funds, claiming that this time, the government prioritised release of funds for the governor and Members of the National Assembly from the province.

As the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly session resumed on Tuesday, Awami National Party (ANP) MPA Bahadur Khan raised the issue of release of development funds for opposition lawmakers.

The ANP legislator said that since the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) started its second tenure in the province, it has yet to finish any of the road projects which it had initiated during its first term. The provincial government claims that it has no funds, however, Rs250 million have been provided to MNAs for their constituency, Bahadur complained.

Khushdil Khan, another lawmaker from the ANP, said that the provincial government has been using delaying tactics when it comes to the release of development funds to opposition lawmakers. But when it comes to issuing Rs20 million to K-P Governor Shah Farman, there was no problem, he complained.

If the issue is not resolved immediately, opposition members said they will drag the provincial government to court for denying them their share of development funds.

Separately, while answering questions of the opposition benches, Special Assistant to K-P chief minister for Information and Local Government Kamran Bangash said that the provincial government was ready to devise a formula with the opposition benches for settling the issue of development funds.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2020.