- Says provincial govt owes Rs22b in oil and gas royalties to Kohat Division, and has decided to release this year’s royalty funds by 30 June
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Agriculture Maj (r) Sajjad Barakwal has said that the Mines and Minerals Amendment Act will not be passed on anyone’s advice or in a hurry.
“A detailed briefing will be given to the parliamentarians on Monday in this regard and their viable and useful suggestions will be included. The amendment act will benefit the province by Rs40 billion. PTI’s one-year performance remained excellent”, KP Minister for Agriculture Maj (r) Sajjad Barakwal stated while briefing the media on the one-year performance of the PTI government at District Press Club Karak.
The provincial minister recalled that when the PTI had come to power, the province was grappling with a severe financial crisis and it had not funds even to pay 10 days’ salary of employees. “Due to sagacious policies and financial discipline, the province has three months’ salary surplus”, he claimed
Barakwal said that revenue from tax and non-tax collection has increased by 50 %, while this year ADP increased by 33 %, for which an additional Rs30 billion will be received and Rs30 billion will be released immediately.
The Agriculture Minister further said that Rs10,000 were given to millions of people under Ramazan package, while solar systems are being provided through balloting in a transparent manner, regardless of political affiliation.
In addition, a meeting has been called next week regarding Salt and Gypsum City, in which a detailed review will be conducted. He added as per his commitment, approval of the medical college, upgradation of the hospital, similarly, a canal from the Kurram Tangi Dam and an uplift canal from the Sindh River will be brought, which will bring a green revolution in the area.
The Minister also said that the Kohat division owes Rs22 billion Royalties in oil and gas against the provincial government, on which it was decided that this year’s royalty fund will be released by June 30, while in our calculations, if mark-ups are applied to the fund for last many years, we have an arrears of Rs96.billion.
