Budget debate: Opposition gets help from treasury benches

Chaudhry Zaheeruddin reads through his list of objections to the budget proposals.

LAHORE:

The Punjab government’s budget proposals came under fire for the second consecutive day on Wednesday. And all of the criticism did not come from the opposition benches.

Dost Muhammad Khosa, a former chief minister and PML-N stalwart from south Punjab, was conspicuous when he lashed out at the Shahbaz Sharif-led government, calling it “narrow minded” and holding it responsible for the lack of development in south Punjab.

Sitting in a separate corner with seven other parliamentarians, Khosa remarked, “The real issue is the attitude and conduct [of the government] towards the members from south Punjab. I agree with the vision of the chief minister but I don’t agree with his way of doing things.”

Khosa criticised the government for following bureaucrats’ advice for making policies. “But when they fall short of votes, the government calls upon MPAs [for help],” he noted. He said that insufficient funds were one of the reasons south Punjab was suffering. Schemes like Sasti Roti, Daanish Schools, Yellow Cab, Aashiyana and Green Tractors fail to produce results, he added.

Chaudhry Zaheeruddin, PML-Q’s parliamentary party leader, was disapproving of the government, reading through a document. “As much as 84 per cent of the province’s debt (about Rs416 billion) is owed to foreign donors,” he said, adding, “So much for the government’s rhetoric of not asking for aid or loans from ‘aghyar’.”

In addition, said Zaheeruddin, the province has a domestic debt of Rs76 billion, which makes Punjab the province with the most debt.

The PML-Q leader, like the PPP, then found fault with the chief minister for not producing any electricity since the passage of the 18th Amendment in 2010. “How much electricity has the province produced?” asked the parliamentarian. “Not a single megawatt.” “How much foreign investment has the chief minister brought in as a result of his many foreign tours?” “The answer is zilch,” said Zaheer.

He remarked that the chief minister had been promising to build 200 dams in the province and had, in the last budget speech, said that the province would produce 376 MW of energy. “He should tell us how many dams have been built and how much electricity has been produced,” said Chaudhry Zaheeruddin.

The next criticism by the PML-Q leader was of the province’s financial health. Eighty-three per cent of the provincial income comes from the federal divisible pool, he said, while 11 per cent comes from loans. Punjab’s own contribution to its budget is only six per cent, he claimed.

He then blasted the government for going back on its promise of building a cardiac hospital in Balochistan because of the deteriorating law and order. “If a federation unit is not investing in Balochistan, how on earth will a foreign investor invest there?”

Rana Afzal, a treasury member from Faisalabad, defended the budget saying Punjab earned the 83 per cent given to it by the federal government. “[That money] is not given a favour,” he said, “It is given because the province contributes the taxes.”

He lauded the government’s various public welfare schemes. “All the schemes, initiated for the poor, are producing results.”

Minority MPA Pervez Rafiq of the PPP castigated the government for allocating only Rs20 million for minorities. “If we divide the money by the number of minority citizen living in the province, each person gets only six rupees,” said Rafiq.

Zulfiqar Gondal of the PPP, Asghar Munda of the PML-N, Faiza Asghar of the PML-Q, Azma Bukhari of the PPP, Tahir Sandhu of the PML-N and Samina Khawar Hyat of PML-Q also took the floor yesterday.

The debate will continue today.

Published In The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2012.