Daily Times

PESHAWAR: On the second day of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Budget 2016-17, opposition members in the provincial assembly demanded of the speakers of the assembly to extend the discussion of the budget.

When the session was started Awami National Party parliamentary leader in the assembly Sardar Hussain Babak criticised the provincial government by saying the budget was a deficit budget where the provincial government would take debits from banks on investment.

He further said that the provincial government promised to allocate Rs 30 billion for local government, but that had turned out to be a false promise.

Sardar Hussain Babak said that around 700 PMS officers were on protest in the province , adding that PTI chairman Imran Khan had claim that foreign aid would be around Rs 27.66 billion but it had decreased by 50 %, showing that foreign investors had no confidence on the provincial government.

“The National Testing Service (NTS) chairman’s degree was fake and the NTS were collecting billion of rupees from poor people and there was dire need to improve the performance of NTS,” Babak added.

He said that the provincial government purchased millions of seeds but because of low quality, its growth decreased by 50%, adding that around 375,000 metric tonnes of seeds were purchased.

He demanded an inquiry and action against the concerned officials. About the Smart School, he said that it was a container school while the government also explained how they planned to change Madrassas in Schools , adding that in the billion tree tsunami project, the government must protect the plants and be wary of climate change.

Shakeel Khan, special assistant to the CM on population, while criticizing its own government said that the provincial government were only allocate a budget for four districts of the province including Peshawar, Nowsehra , Mardan and Swabi while other districts were completely neglected.

He further said that Levies force had given many sacrifices in the war against terror in Swat when militancy was at its peak, but the government declared the police shuhada Package for police while ignoring the levies force as their package was worth only Rs. 0.5 million . On the occasion, other opposition leaders were critical of the provincial government and rejected the budget, saying it only served the interests of the rich.

Senior Mininster Inayat Ullah Khan and Education Minister Muhammad Atif Khan were also present at the occasion.