ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak terming the opposition criticism against budget a drama, has claimed that the fiscal plan of federal government for the year 2021-22 will bring economic revolution in the country.
He said on Monday that the government presented pro-public and growth-oriented budget despite multifaceted challenges faced by it.
Khattak said that the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had put the province on road of progress and prosperity through introducing landmark reforms.
Owing to the reforms, the people of the province reposed confidence in the PTI leadership and elected them again with thumping majority which was a big slap on face of the opposition, he added.
The defence minister said that construction and industrial sectors were booming owing to incentives given by the incumbent government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He said the world economy suffered a lot due to Covid-19 pandemic. However, he said that “our economy did not suffer a lot owing to prudent policies adopted by the government under the acumen leadership of Imran Khan”.
Khattak said that PTI government inherited very limited foreign reserves since its inception and had to go to International Monetary Fund for payment of loans taken by the past governments of PML-N and PPPP.
He expressed hope that “we would not only get rid of IMF but also emerged as strong economic power”. The national economy was on right track and the industry was moving on fast track, he added.
The federal minister said the country’s foreign reserves stood at $ 25 billion and record increase was witnessed in the export. The IT sector exports jumped to over $ 2 billion during PTI government which was only few million dollars in the past, he added.
He said that change was taking place in the country with improvement in the living standards of the people.
Khattak said we had given incentives to the industries and construction and this had started providing job opportunities to the people. If people’s lives were getting better and they had money to meet their expenses, it was an indication that the country was going forward, he added.
He rejected the opposition parties’ criticism saying they could no longer hoodwink the masses. The PTI would also win the general elections 2023 with overwhelming majority, he hoped.
The defence minister was of the view that the construction industry and other industries generate employment in the country. The government had given record incentive to agriculture sector, he added.
He said that leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif claimed that no university was built in the KP. “I challenge him to have a debate with me and recount what he did in his 20 years and I will lay facts before the house about what I did in just five years,” he said
Khattak said that PTI after formation of the government in KP in 2013, did land mark legislations including introducing Right to Information Act, Right to Public Service Act, Whistleblower Act and Police Act, etc. to “ensure rights for our people”.
He went on to say that the provincial government set up 12 new universities besides setting up campus of various universities in various district of the province.
He said that there were 180 colleges in KP before PTI government and they started work on new 90 colleges. Out of which, 50 colleges had already been set up while work on remaining was in progress, he added.
The defence minister said missing facilities were provided in over 22,000 primary schools with an estimated cost of Rs30 billion. Similarly, all higher secondary schools in the province were up-graded which cost Rs60 billion, he added.
He said that monitoring system was introduced to ensure attendance of teachers in the schools. Over 8,000 schools had been switched on solar energy while efforts were being made to convert remaining 28,000 schools on solar technology.
The minister said that 70,000 teachers were recruited in KP through open merit while more 30,000 were being hiring through transparent process.
Khattak said that political interference had completely ended in police affairs through enforcement of Police Act in the province. He lauded the KP police for rendering supreme scarifies during war against terrorism.
He said that provision of Sehat Insaf Card to the poor was PM’s vision which was not only materialised but also extended the facility to all citizen of the province.
He said that they had not only eradicated timber mafia but also planted 1.2 billion trees.
The minister said that the provincial government had also fixed stipend for 28, 000 prayer leaders in the province.
