PESHAWAR: Participants of a seminar analyzed in detail the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa budget for upcoming financial near 2024-25 and analyzed challenges and positive aspects of the document.
The seminar was organized under the auspices of the National Think Tank & Good Governance Forum at Peshawar Press Club, focusing on opportunities, challenges, and solutions. The event brought together a diverse group of participants from various walks of life.
The seminar was chaired by Dr Syed Akhtar Ali Shah, former Home Secretary and IGP of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who highlighted the objectives of the Think Tank in the context of the provision of a platform to generate debate on important national and international issues.
The speakers were included Shaukat Yousafzai, former KP Minister Himayatullah Khan, Syed Badshah Bukhari, a former secretary finance KP, Ayub Shah, Senior Vice President PPP KP and ex. Advisor to KP Government Arshad Aziz Malik, President Peshawar Press Club and Syed Baadshah Bukhari, ex. Secretary Finance KP, Syed Akhtar Ali Shah delivered a speech on the bird’s eye view of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa budget and its implications.
The former secretary finance, Syed Baadshah Bukhari presented a detailed analysis on the provincial budget, highlighting key points such as the dependence on Federal Government payouts and previous trends, which raised concerns about the financial conditions of the province.
He emphasized that minimal sources of receipts and high dependence on the Federal government are significant challenges. He said that the huge current expenditure would also be a real challenge, saying keeping in view, the past experience with the federal government, the budget may a huge deficit.
Himayatullah Khan also highlighted the positive aspects of the budget, focusing on projects such as the Chashma Bank Right Canal, which would help cultivate over 300,000 acres of land. He attributed the road linkages among major cities a good initiative to increase economic activities.
He emphasized that the KP government must look at its energy agreements with the Federal government and sold out the produced electricity by itself.
Shaukat Yousafzai, a PTI activist and former provincial minister praised the Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur for adopting a strong stance on the rights of the province and demands for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s share from the Federal Government, stating that it was a challenging job gets shares from Federal Government.
He welcomed suggestions from the National Think Tank and assured that the present government would adopt a participatory approach for successful implementation and be a single voice in demanding its shares in the federal divisible pool.
Arshad Aziz Malik, a senior journalist and president Peshawar Press Club forecast a deficit of Rs.400 billion to Rs 500 billion due to low receipts and expressed concerns about the coming months.
Ayub Shah, a PPP activist emphasized the need for giving relief to the masses and brining all stakeholders on a single platform with a single agenda.
The speakers said that out of Rs 1.7 trillion estimated budget, the allocation of Rs 416 billion for social protection, law and order and economic development was a peanut and will not bring qualitative change in lives of the people. However, they appreciated allocation of Rs 28 billion for Sehat Card, Rs 29 billion for wheat subsidy and another amount of Rs 12 billion for three youth employment oriented programmes. But, cautioned that as economic growth at the rate of 7% such kind of subsidies would prove a futile attempt.
Regarding construction of 5,000 houses, the speakers said that it would have better to complete Peshawar valley scheme and resolve the longstanding issue of Regi Lalma.
Subsiding BRT with allocation Rs 3 billion may reduce the cost of travelling but may not be feasible in the long run.
Financing of the Universities have also been cited as big challenge, for which no plan was there.
The speakers also mentioned that economics was all about setting priorities, but despite financial crunch no plan had been given to downsizing the bureaucratic structure, by abolishing unnecessary departments, and bring an end to duplication and triplications such as Public health, Water & Sanitation Authority, City Government and Peshawar Development Authority.
Speakers also argued that a huge amount Rs140.62 billion has been allocated but citizen’s fundamental right to life is not protected.
Citing Peshawar as case in point they lamented that street crime was on the peak, ice and heroin affecting every household, betting destroying the youth.
The floor was then open for a question-and-answer session, during which Ms. Rabia Sattar, a development professional, raised a question about the delay in asking for the rights of the province.
Other guests also raised questions about self-reliance, revenue generation, tourism, and the exploitation of KP’s mineral resources.
The guest speakers responded to the questions, concluding that a unified voice is necessary for the financial rights of KP and that work should be done on revenue generation mechanisms.
The seminar aimed to provide a platform for discussion and analysis of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Budget 2024-2025, focusing on opportunities, challenges, and solutions.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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