The caretaker cabinet of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has approved the tax-free budget for the first four months of the new financial year 2023–24 under Article 126 of the Constitution.

Salaries, pensions, and minimum wages have been increased. The minimum monthly wage for labour has been increased from 26,000 to 32,000 rupees. Ad-hoc relief has been given by 35% in the salary of employees from Grade I to Grade 16 and 30% in the salary of Grade 17 and above, while the pension of retired employees has been increased by 17.5%.

The travel allowance of provincial employees is 50%, the convention allowance of disabled employees is 100%, the orderly allowance of provincial employees has been increased from 14 thousand to 25 thousand rupees, the deputation allowance of provincial employees has been increased by 50%, and the secretariat performance allowance has been increased by 100%.

Advisor to Finance Support Allah Khan said in the press conference that a 25% cut has been made on the expenses. This budget is neither a surplus nor a deficit. In the budget, 462 billion rupees have been allocated for expenses, while 112 billion rupees (11.9 million rupees) have been set aside for the development programme, which will only be spent on ongoing projects.

The ration allowance for police has been increased from Rs. 600 to Rs. 1000 in the budget. The creation of new posts and the purchase of new government vehicles will be prohibited. Funds have been allocated for health cards and BRT according to the current financial year.

The caretaker government has tried to keep the increase in the minimum wage and pension of the workers in the provincial budget as close to the federal government as possible, but at this time the health, education, and agriculture sectors need to be given the most attention.

It is expected that the allocated funds will be spent on development projects. Effective measures will be taken for the people affected by inflation and unemployment.

MUHAMMAD AMIN,

Kech.