K-P to move SC against Centre

Finance minister Jhagra says province is forced to reduce its expenditures

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government would move the Supreme Court against the federal government for non-provision of due provincial funds, provincial Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra and Education Minister Kamran Bangash said on Thursday.

The ministers told a press conference in Peshawar that because of the lack of funds, the government’s deficit had risen to Rs120 billion, which would soar to Rs185 billion by the end of the current fiscal year at the current rate.

They added that the provincial government was forced to reduce its development expenditures.

“We are preparing to file three cases against the Centre in the Supreme Court on behalf of the province to obtain funds,” Jhagra told the reporters.

 “There is a loss of Rs61 billion in hydel profits, Rs30 billion in funds for the merged [tribal] districts and Rs28 billion from the NFC [National Finance Commission],” he added.

Jhagra said that the provincial government lacked funds for the development of the former Federally-administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

For the past one and a half months, he added, funds were being provided only for the priority districts.

Dilating on the economic situation of the province, Jhagra said that this fiscal year, the total tax collection would decrease by Rs60 to 65 billion, adding that the fall would increase the provincial budget deficit to Rs185 billion by the end of the year in June 2023.

“The way the Centre is treating our province never happened before. The Constitution is being violated and the 40 million population of the province has been pushed to financial difficulties,” the finance minister said.

“The Centre is not giving money even for basic needs of the newly-merged tribal districts,” he added.

“Last year, the budget of the merged districts decreased from Rs132 billion to 115 billion. We are running the affairs of the merged districts by spending from our own resources. We are also running the health card schemes.”

According to the minister, K-P received Rs181.64 billion instead of 196.39 billion from the NFC and on account of war against terrorism.

He added that the provincial government had already written a letter to the federal government in this regard, while another letter would be sent by the end of the day.

On account of hydel profits, he added, not a single rupee had been received from the Centre since April 2022 – when the present coalition government took over.

He also said that the federal government had not even paid Rs10 billion for flood relief activities as well as the amount of subsidy on flour.

Responding to a question, the finance minister said that the provincial government employees would continue to receive their salaries.

“Rs170 billion is in commercial banks for pension, GP Fund and other disbursements,” he emphasised.

“This is an attempt to bankrupt the province. We are going to challenge this matter in the court,” Jhagra said.

“We will file three cases simultaneously in the Supreme Court. Tomorrow [today] there will be a meeting with the AG [advocate general] in this regard.”