PESHAWAR - Senior Minister Sirajul Haq for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has said that the provincial assembly will pass a legislation to ensure access to information and end the existing uncertainty among the people regarding the performance of the government’s departments.
The finance minister said they would try to reform the system and for this purpose he had invited all the former finance secretaries and experts to know how to keep and maintain clean system. He said that he had advised to the chief minister to establish a “proposal cells” which could receive the people implement able suggestions. He said 50 percent of the budget is utilized in the first months but there was no doubt the funds were delayed only because of the completion certificate.
Responding to the points raised by the opposition members in provincial assembly on Monday, Sirajul Haq said that the previous government could hide the information from general public only because there was no proper legislation. It, he said, was the right of every citizen to know about any department, which they want.
Regarding delay in the developmental projects, he said they were also not satisfied with this delay but with the new legislation, the people would be able to know the details of the income and expenditures from their houses through computers. He said it was their joint responsibility to reform the existing system.
Earlier, the legislators including Arbab Akbar Hayat, Aamna Sardar, Ruqia Hina, Sardar Aurangzeb Nalota, Shah Hussain, Sobia Shahid, Uzma Khan, Askar Pervez, Abdul Munim, Abdus Sattar Khan, Mohammad Shiraz, Nawabzada Wali Mohammad, Qamous Khan criticized the performance of the finance department during their cut motions. They, however, withdrew their motion after getting assurance from the minister. Terming the finance ministry as backbone of the government, they said most of the developmental projects were delayed only because of the complicated system. They asked the minister to review the policy as to why the funds were not released during the whole years but suddenly all of the funds were released during the last week of June. They asked the government to change the traditional way of the audit system, which was mere paper work.
Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Israrullah Khan Gandapur, who presented demands for grant on behalf of the chief minister, agreed with the opposition saying they had the same reservations when they debated the performance of the administration department.
The opposition MPAs suggested the government to ensure equal distribution of resources and consider each constituency like that of their own. The chief minister, Pervez Khattak assured the house that the funds would be released through district development advisory committee and no discrimination would be made with any member. Appreciating the opposition members for their hard work and positive suggestions, he said that they would try to accommodate all the acceptable suggestions for the welfare and prosperity of the people. He divided the budget into two parts suggesting the members to present suggestions in the developmental side in the larger interests of the province. He assured the members they would present them detail briefing as to where they would spend the expenditures in coming year.