LAHORE: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said on Sunday that the country had been saved from default, and now the government’s entire focus was on ensuring stability and growth.
Addressing a press conference here, he said everyone was acknowledging that country’s economy was getting stable and even Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder had admitted it. He said inflation had reduced from 32 per cent to 4 per cent. “Is it not a responsibility of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to set up price control committees besides appointing price control magistrates at tehsil and union council levels, he questioned.
Comparing to last year, prices of essential items were coming down, petrol price had reduced but why things in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were not improving. All micro-economic indicators were improving in the country under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he added.
He said that all political parties had their own manifestos under which they had contested general election.
He said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was in government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for almost 11 years adding that during last ten months misgovernance and corruption was witnessed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
While sharing white paper regarding performance of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government he highlighted financial corruption along with financial irregularities. Tarar said that metro bus in Lahore was started to facilitate
common man, but the initiative was termed ‘Jangla Bus’ by a certain person and later the model was replicated in Peshawar. He said that certain people were in habit of taking u-turns.
Information minister said that financial irregularities in KP government were estimated as Rs 152 billion. While giving details of the financial losses, Attaullah Tarar said there were fraudulent payments worth Rs 130 million;
Rs. 84 billion had been estimated as misclassified expenditures, and suspicious disbursement was calculated as Rs. 510 million.
He said the financial irregularity was caused due to non-seriousness and zero focus on governance. The federal minister said the PTI provincial government was hatching conspiracies and making hue and cry. About the debt crisis, the minister said KP’s overall debt burden was Rs. 725 billion, adding that if it would not be addressed, it would surge to Rs 2,555 billion by 2030. He said, “Annual debit servicing costs Rs. 355 billion equivalent to the province’s development budget.”
He said that KP government did nothing in period of more than one decade, no dam was constructed and even not a single unit of electricity was produced in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
What is the mistake of people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and why relief was not transferred to people, Attaullah Tarar questioned.
He said that KP universities amendment bill 2024 had centralized control under Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, undermining academic autonomy and facilitating political appointments. The information minister said that teachers were protesting on roads in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that 50 illegal appointments had been made to Nowshera Medical Complex despite anti corruption notices adding that under tourism mismanagement Rs 2.68 billion was misappropriated in KITE project.
Regarding police reforms, the minister said if the reforms were implemented, why law and order situation was so bad in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that Rescue-1122 vehicles were used in PTI political protests unfortunately diverting emergency resources. The cost inflation in DI Khan and Bannu projects, increased from Rs. 100 million to Rs 2.6 billion just because of misuse of funds, he maintained.
He further said that unfortunately KP witnessed increasing violence especially in Kurram district. He said instead of focusing on people of Kurram, the PTI government had been focusing on attacking the federation. The KP had nothing to speak on fake driving license scandal, timber mafia scandal, bus rapid transit corruption and about its poor governance. He said that biggest problem of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was its Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, his party and leadership.
Responding to a question, he said the PPP wanted to make Sindh a modern province. He said the government was focusing on country’s growth and soon Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would speak on economic agenda.
He said, “Dialogue is meant for ensuring political stability.”
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