The chief ministers of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan, flanked by the finance ministers of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, on Monday demanded the federal government release funds intended for their regions, warning of mass protests if their “due share” continued to be withheld.
Addressing a press conference, KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan lamented that the provincial government had repeatedly informed the federal government of its financial issues but there had been no positive response. He said the provincial government had announced a budget of Rs. 1.3 trillion for the ongoing fiscal year but had been unable to advance development schemes due to a lack of funds.
Alleging that the KP government had faced difficulties since the ruling coalition came into power in April, he added: “I am warning the federal government today to give us our dues, our money, which is our right. We are not asking for charity.” Claiming the due funds now equaled Rs. 189 billion, he said it was particularly “dangerous” to withhold funds for the erstwhile tribal areas.
“The current budget [for merged areas] is Rs. 60 billion, while our requirement is Rs. 85 billion,” he said, adding the KP government lacked Rs. 4.5 billion earmarked for the Sehat Card program in merged areas and Rs. 17 billion for displaced persons. “They [federal government] are also not giving us sovereign guarantee so that we take loans from a third party. Where do we go then?” he said, adding the province was also awaiting Rs. 10 billion promised by the federal government to tackle the aftermath of this year’s floods.
“Is KP not a part of Pakistan? If it is, give us our right. And if they won’t, we will stage a sit-in outside the National Assembly,” he said. “If they will not give us our right, we will snatch it,” he warned, adding that the KP government was open to talks with the federal government to resolve the situation.
It remains unclear how the chief minister intends to use any pending funds, as his party has already announced it would dissolve the KP Assembly before the end of December. A similar situation exists in Punjab, where the PTI has repeatedly claimed it would quit the provincial assembly if Chief Minister Parvez Elahi of the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) refuses to accept party chief Imran Khan’s demands for dissolution.
Punjab
Punjab Finance Minister Mohsin Leghari claimed the center had to pay an outstanding amount of Rs. 176.4 billion to the province, adding it also needed to pay its under a tripartite agreement with the provincial government and State Life Insurance for the Sehat Card program.
Claiming the federal government had not issued any funds for flood rehabilitation or had any say in projects approved for infrastructure repair projects approved during a recent Executive Committee of the National Economic Council meeting, he accused the center of not signing an agreement for a loan by the Asian Development Bank for constructing the Greater Thal Canal.
He also complained that the federal government was not cooperating with provinces “as if we are at war.”
AJK and GB
Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid Khan, meanwhile, said the development budget for all other regions had been increased in the ongoing fiscal, while GB’s was reduced from Rs. 40 billion to Rs. 25 billion. “This has never happened in our history,” he said, describing it as “enmity with the region.” He also accused the federal government of only releasing Rs. 2.8 billion under the Annual Development Program for the territory in the first six months of the current fiscal year, stressing this was insufficient to run the administrative unit as it lacked any viable means of revenue generation.
Despite having a significant capacity to produce electricity, he lamented, GB was experiencing loadshedding for over 20 hours. “The GB government has also run out of money to run diesel generator sets” to reduce power outages, he said, adding the federal government had also reduced the wheat subsidy. “From where do we arrange for electricity and wheat now?” he questioned.
Echoing Punjab and KP, the GB chief minister also alleged no funds had been provided to deal with the aftermath of floods. “They committed to give us developments funds worth Rs. 40 billion and they did not even honor that,” he claimed, adding his government had no option but to go on strike.
“We will hold a strike across GB and then, if possible, we will also bring people here [Islamabad]. We will hold a cabinet meeting outside the National Assembly,” he added.
In his turn at the mic, AJK Finance Minister Abdul Majid Khan claimed the ruling coalition had failed to pay its complete variable grant under the 2018 financial agreement. Claiming the government would soon run out of funds to pay salaries, he said it was “dangerous” to ignore a “Line of Control package” intended as the first line of defense. “The significance and sensitivity of [development along LoC] should be realized,” he said, adding there had also been a reduction of development funds for the region.