By: Asem Mustafa Awan
The governments of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan have complained of serious financial difficulties due to non-payment of arrears and dues by the federal government.
Addressing a joint press conference in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House, Islamabad, the chief ministers and representatives of the two provinces and the federally administered Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan said that the federal government is trying to sabotage the finances of PTI-governed units.
According to Chief Minister KP Mehmood Khan, since the change of government at the center, the province could not get the due amount of 189 billion rupees from the federal government. Chief Minister Mehmood Khan also complained about the non-receipt of the dues of 61 billion of the NFC award which are due to the Center in the field of hydropower. The 10 billion rupees announced by the federal government for the flood victims have not been released yet.
Chief Minister Gilgit-Baltistan Khalid Khurshid complains that the budget of GB has been reduced from 40 billion rupees to 25 billion rupees. This shortfall is making it difficult to meet GB’s financial needs. During the Press conference, Punjab Finance Minister Mohsin Leghari claimed that the federal government has withheld 176.4 billion rupees from Punjab’s share.
The Federation is looking to end the healthcare facilities to the people by stopping the funds of the health card scheme. Azad Kashmir Finance Minister Abdul Majeed Khan expressed the fear that ongoing projects in Kashmir will be affected due to non-payment of dues from the federal government.
The federation is guided by the norms laid down in the National Finance Commission under a mathematical formula. The NFC Award was constituted under Article 160 (I) of the Constitution. Under sub-clause 3B of Article 160, the Federal Finance Minister and the Provincial Finance Ministers are responsible for monitoring the implementation of the NFC Award and are responsible for submitting their separate reports in this regard to the National Assembly and Provincial Assemblies.
Pakistan in one way or the other is at the whims of individuals who hold their personal and vested interests above national interests.
Tehreek-e-Insaf has the government in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. PDM has coalition governments in Sindh and Balochistan. The silence on the funds received by Balochistan and Sindh from the federation shows that these two provinces have their exchequer brimming with money.
The political conflict and division has reached to such a level that the federation is reluctant to fulfill the basic requirement of keeping the country united simply because it wants to create trouble for the governments of the opposite party. Pakistan has recently gone through a terrible flood. The areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan were affected by the floods. Thousands of houses have collapsed and millions are faced with starvation and cold winters. Since the developed world is in a way responsible for this ecological disaster the United Nations had made appeal and arranged funds for Pakistan amounting in many millions of dollars. Pakistan did get the aid amounting up to fifty percent in total in the form of material and cash. The question is will this aid reach the flood affectees?
