The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to extend the scope of Sehat Card Plus scheme to the merged tribal districts of the province in the upcoming budget of financial year 2021-22.
Among other decisions taken ahead of the provincial budget which was due on June 18, the provincial government has set a minimum wage of Rs21,000 for workers in the next fiscal year and will provide flour to people at subsidized rates.
The provincial government will present the budget of over Rs1,000 billion on Friday at 03:00 pm at a provincial assembly session. Out of the total outlay, over Rs205 billion would be allocated for Annual Development Program (ADP).
The K-P government has planned to increase revenue from provincial resources to Rs75 billion in the next financial year, which will be 50 per cent more than the outgoing fiscal year.
In the 2020-21 financial year, the revenue from provincial resources was estimated at Rs49.2 billion and out of the total amount Rs28.1 billion was collected from taxes, while Rs21.1 billion was generated from other sources.
Estimating the revenue for the upcoming financial year, the provincial government claimed to generate a revenue of Rs53 billion. On the basis of the estimates, the K-P authorities decided to set the revenue target of Rs75 billion from its own resources for the next financial year.
The provincial government has decided to raise the salaries of officers below grade 19 by 25 per cent in addition to their basic salaries in the upcoming budget.
The government has allocated more than Rs350 billion for the development budget which will be the largest allocation of funds in the province’s history.
It was also decided that special measures would be taken for investment in the energy, tourism and information technology sectors during the next financial year, while the government would also earmark a large amount of funds for the health and education sectors.
Measures were also being taken in divisions and districts of the province keeping in view the needs of women, minorities and senior citizens, while reforms were also expected to be announced to improve the performance of government employees.
The most important ongoing projects in the ADP, health and education sectors would be completed on priority basis in the upcoming financial year.
The government has also decided to eliminate the discrepancy between districts in the provision of funds for various projects, include only those schemes in the programme which were urgently needed and focus on the development schemes of districts.
It was also planned that the most important projects would be completed in the next two years of the upcoming financial year.
In addition to the recruitment of teachers in the next fiscal year, scholarships would be provided to the students who got more than 80 per cent marks.
The government would also extend the scope of Rescue 1122 to the level of tehsils and ambulances would be provided to them.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 16h, 2021.
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