Assembly approves 58 demands for grants worth over Rs389 billion

Finance bill approved with two of 30 proposed amendments.

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly on Thursday passed the 2014-15 budget after approving about 58 demands for grants, worth about Rs389.585 billion. Most of the demands for grants were approved with a majority even as members of the opposition members insisted the amounts be cut down further.

Finance bill

The provincial finance bill was also approved, with two amendments. One of the amendments was moved by K-P Minister for Finance Sirajul Haq, discarding property tax imposed on villages. The second amendment was jointly moved by Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) parliamentary leader Sikandar Sherpao and member Anisa Zeb Tahirkheli. The change proposed redefining the word ‘owner’ for the purpose of collecting agricultural income tax. The finance bill had initially included tenants and those taking the land on lease as well as land owners in the definition. However, the amendment scraped this section and agricultural income tax will only be levied on land owners.

The government rejected about 30 other amendments proposed for the finance bill.

Cut motions

At the start of the session, opposition members discussed cut motions (a motion aiming to reduce the amount of the demand for grant) for the police, home and tribal affairs and prison departments’ demands for grants. They also termed the Public Safety Commission a burden on the resources of the province and demanded alternative incentives for those areas of Kohistan where poppy is cultivated.

Opposition MPAs called for training facilities for prisoners in the province and asked books on morality be made available at detention facilities. They also criticised the separation of the investigation and operation branches of the police. This increases problems, the lawmakers said, and called for an end to two discreet branches.

At this point, the speaker of the assembly discarded all cut motions over demands for grants, using his powers under Section 148(4) of the assembly rules after opposition refused to do so.

The budget was approved within 30 minutes after scrapping cut motions. Nonetheless, the opposition members continued to oppose a majority of the demand for grants.

Income tax

Opposition benches of the house also opposed the imposition of professional income tax in the budget, claiming it violated the Constitution. However, the treasury benches refused to listen and said the government has a right to impose professional levy under Section 163 of the Constitution, invoking the same to impose the professional income tax.

The professional income tax, when levied on specialist doctors, amounts to Rs20,000 a year. Haq also announced an increase in minimum wage from Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000.

Earlier, the government had set the minimum wage at Rs 12,000 in the budget. On Monday, however, Siraj said the government was raising this to Rs 15,000.

The session was later adjourned till Tuesday.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2014.