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Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak on Saturday said his coalition government is ready to hold local bodies' election in the province since the legislation to devolve the governance system to grass-roots level has been evolved. Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 10 years of Islamic Banking of Bank of Khyber (BOK) at a local hotel, Khattak said his coalition government has carried out key legislation's in the last 10 months to end corruption and improve public services in the province.
Showing a complete distrust in the National Accountability Bureau, he said his government is introducing a provincial Ehtisab Commission in a month to cleanse the province of corruption. He said the commission will be an independent entity to run without political or bureaucratic interferences.
He said PTI and JI coalition government has resolved to bring quick reforms to political, economic, social, civic, education, healthcare and police to help the province lead in a better and progressive manner. He challenged other provinces to compete his province in terms of quality of public services by the government. "We have zero tolerance against corruption," he asserted, adding that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will lead the province to develop in an exemplary manner.
He said during last 10 months his government introduced 45 new Acts in health, police, education, police and other key departments. He said the utmost law is right to information, which is seen the most important piece of legislation's that never existed in the country. "The right of information law will help the public attain all government information and the officials will have nothing to conceal," he said.
Khattak said his government is introducing a similar curriculum that the private sectors' schools are teaching for government education sector to enable the poor children to compete with the rich ones. "From April 8, the new academic session will be taught in English medium at the government schools in the province," he added.
He said his government has also uprooted the culture of commission for official contracts which in other province continues unabated. He said the provincial government will also rebuild the existing state-run hospitals before establishing new ones. He said the health department is still unaware of its strength of official staff, as many hospitals lack doctors and medicines.
"My provincial police is independent to work without any political interference from me or any other elected representatives from the government," he said, adding that new laws will also bar politicians, officials, ministers to take benefit of the government for their personal businesses.
He vowed that his government will bring a grass-root change to provide all key facilities to the public at their doorsteps through devolution of governance to village councils, districts and tehsil levels. He said the local bodies' law will ensure non-interference by the government in the affairs of district or village councils.
About the Islamic banking, he said the non-Muslim countries are also shifting from the interest-based financial system. He said London has become the largest hub for Islamic banking with $3 billion investment. He hoped BOK will continue to grow.
To a question, he said his government is not under threat from within party ranks as a petty issue which had created a deadlock, has been resolved after some members met with the party chief Imran Khan. He also denied that there is any forward block in his party. Senior Minister Finance, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sirajul Haq assured that his party's coalition government will continue support to the Islamic banking in the province. He said his government is making efforts to get rid of traditional exploitative banking system in the country.
"One day the entire exploitative financial system will come to an end," he hoped, adding that globalisation has both effects but the leaders should bring better changes to the nation. After the demise of communism, he said the world is now in search of new economic and financial systems to bring relief to them without being exploited. "Islam can only ensure through guidelines such a pure financial setup," he said.
He also urged the Islamic banking experts to explore new products before the expected influx of customers towards the Shariah-compliant system. He said the Islamic baking sector should be prepared to provide better services than the traditional banking sector.
Deputy Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Saeed Ahmed appreciated the BOK's role in Islamic banking system, hoping the bank will expand its network. Despite being short of resources, the bank proved to be competitive in the country beyond its provincial limits.
He said Islam prohibits Riba (interest). "We have no doubts on its [Riba] prohibition," he said, adding that the traditional banking system is exploitative but Islamic financial system provides a solution to the economic problems. He said the non-Muslim countries are also considering adopting Islamic banking system.
Acting MD BOK, Imran Samad highlighted the bank's performance. He said the bank has 100 branches in the country after 22 years of operations. He said the bank was primarily developed for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but now it provides services across the country.
He said the bank provides services in a number of categories including agriculture, microfinance, corporate finance and Islamic financing, etc. He termed the bank's services in Islamic financing a 'super' market. In 2003, he said, the Islamic banking the BOK started.
Chairman Supervisory Committee BOK, Mufti Muhammad Zahid spoke on the status of interest in different religions. He cited verses from the Holy Quran and references from the Bible to prove that Islam, Judaism and Christianity prohibit Riba. He said the advent of industrialisation in the West caused the flow of capital on interest despite the religion had termed it 'impermissible'. He said capitalists had drawn up a different mechanism for Riba. He said the Muslim scholars are still divided on technical and conceptual basis on Riba. He said interest is an exploitative financial system. Omar Mustafa Ansari and Muhammad Ayub also spoke on Islamic banking.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2014

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