Updated on
Summary
The Azad Kashmir government announced on Friday an overall consolidated budget of Rs.47.332 billion for the fiscal year 2010-11 with a record deficit of over Rs.17.6050 billion and an allocation of Rs.11.1749 billion for annual development program (ADP).Azad Kashmir Minister for finance Raja Nisar Ahmad Khan presented the budget in the AJK legislative Assembly, which was the first budget of the Farooq Haider led huge government. The AJK legislative assembly speaker Shah Ghulam Qadir presided over the budget session. The opposition boycotted the budget speech of finance minister after a short protest in the house against non-provision of their development funds during the outgoing fiscal year. The budget sets aside Rs.11.174965 billion for development, up by 10 per cent over the outgoing fiscal years original allocation of Rs.9.555 billion as compared to original spending of Rs.7.13 billion, but the AJK government has allocated only Rs.6.17 billion from its own resources. The Finance minister hoped that the federal government would provide the remaining amount in the shape of grant in aid to meet the development expenditures deficit. The total revenue receipts were estimated Rs.22.9 billion including share from the taxes of Kashmir council income from local resources Rs.9.92 billion, Mangla Dam water usage charges Rs.750 million, share from AJK council taxes Rs4.5 billion, and share from federal taxes Rs.6.68 billion. The finance Minister announced 50% ad hoc increase in the salaries of the government employees, police officials and pensions and medical allowance following the federal governments initiative. However, he did not announce any cut in the salaries of Ministers and government functionaries as the federal and provincial governments did by cutting down their expenditures. AJK has the biggest cabinet of its history with all treasury members except one having the portfolio. Many ongoing projects have been dropped in the budget due to financial constraints but it does not reflect any single measure of austerity to minimize the non-development expenditures. A day dreamer, ex-Prime Minister and ruling party chief Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan had started a huge development program without estimating the resources, which are laying incomplete from the very beginning stage causing great difficulties to the people, some of which now have been dropped in the next fiscal years budget. The finance minister in his budget speech said that the share of the federal government in the new NFC award was reduced, which had also affected the AJK share putting his government in financial crunch.If we are provided net profit over the hydro-electric projects, complete share from the federal taxes and Kashmir property, we might not need any grant in aid to bridge the gape between income and expenditures, he informed the house. The minister said the government needed Rs.7 billion extra amount in the current expenditures head to raise the salaries of government employees, Judiciary, police and 100% increase in the medical allowance of grade 1 to 15 employees and 15 % of higher grade officials. In the development budget, priority has been given to transport and communication sector by allocating a sum of Rs.4.18 billion for the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges. A sum of Rs.1500 million has been fixed for development projects in the power sector. Local government department would be provided Rs.1000million during the next fiscal year while Rs.916 million has been allocated for the foreign funded projects and the education sector would get Rs.800 million for its development schemes. The minister announced to regularize 1100 contractual employees during the fiscal year starting from 1st July but no new post has been announced in the budget. In the non-development expenditures head, a junk amount of Rs.7.594 billion has been allocated for the education sector, Rs.5.30 billion for electricity department, Rs.3.31 billion in the head of miscellaneous expenditures, Rs.2.5 billion for state trading, Rs.1.82 billion for health, Rs.1.17 billion for general administration, Rs.1.6 billion for the payment pension and Rs.1.58 billion for police department. The minister also presented the revised budget estimates of Rs.32.78 billion for the outgoing fiscal year 2009-11 in the house, out of which Rs.25.65 for non-development expenditures and Rs.7.13 for the development expenditures. The revised budget shows a deficit of Rs.5.5 billion. Earlier, the AJK cabinet approved the budget for the fiscal year 2010-11 and revised budget for the year 2009-10. The meeting was chaired by the Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan. The house will debate the budget for the fiscal year 2010-11 and revised budget for the outgoing fiscal year from Monday after a two days pause.
