Of Rs2.96 billion, ECP gets the lion’s share

Rs1.03b set aside for Supreme Court and Rs355m for IHC.

ISLAMABAD:

Laying emphasis on the need for rule of law and order, the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government has allocated Rs2.96 billion for the law and justice ministry in the budget.

Of this, the lion’s share – Rs1.57 billion – has been set aside for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The apex court got Rs1.03 billion and Islamabad High Court, Rs355 million.

ECP’s share

The government pledged Rs1.57 billion for the ECP against the outgoing fiscal’s revised estimate of Rs1.88 billion. Of this, expenditure on employees has been increased due to the increase in their salaries from Rs418.38 million in fiscal 2011-2, to Rs Rs575.238 million for the new financial year.

This amount will be spent on pay and allowances of the employees. For operating expenses, Rs976.255 million has been set aside, which includes physical assets, civil works and repairs and maintenance.

Apex court’s share

For the Supreme Court, Rs1.03 billion has been earmarked which is 4.97% more than the outgoing financial year’s revised estimates of Rs986 million.

According to the breakup, Rs 837.44 million has been allocated for employees-related expenses: Rs203.29 million for payment of salaries and Rs634.2 million for allowances. Additionally, Rs145 million has set aside for operating expenses: Rs2.5 million to meet transfer expenses, Rs5.5 million for retirement benefits, Rs33 million for physical assets and Rs14.7 million for repairs and maintenance of the court’s building.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2012.