KPK PFC decides to reduce discretionary quota of CM & FM

PESHAWAR, March 14: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Commission has decided to make a drastic decrease in discretionary quota of Chief Minister and Finance Minister for district development. This 5 times reduction in development funds would squeeze the quota of chief minister from 10 % to only 2 % and that of provincial Finance Minister from 5 % to mere one percent.
This decision with consensus recommendation of the members of the commission would be implemented in next financial year following the formal approval from the Chief Minister.
It has decided in a meeting of the PFC that was chaired by Provincial Finance Minister Muzaffar Syed Advocate at Civil Secretariat Peshawar wherein besides PFC members, District and Tehsil Nazims, secretaries of Finance, Local Government and Law, the KP Senior Minister for LG Inayatullah Khan was also in attendance. Muzaffar Syed while appreciating the viable consultation and recommendations of the participants said that his KP Government for 1st time in history was bent upon minimizing its discretionary powers in gradual but fast manner.
Finance Minister also approved and substantiated another consensus recommendation of the commission to distribute the district development funds among the local governments this year according to the old PFC formula so that the ongoing development process was not hampered and funds distribution and utilization could be ensured on fast track basis. Under the old PFC formula of 60 % on population, 20 % backwardness and 20 % lag in infrastructure, the districts would receive total funds of Rs.30274 million wherein village and neighborhood councils would be given funds to the tune of Rs.13100 million while Rs.8550 million each would be transferred to tehsil and district councils out of the provincial resources to be spent on development schemes through respective councils.
Muzaffar Syed directed the concerned authorities to ensure implementation of this decision viz the transparent and judicious distribution of funds under old formula soon after getting nod of the Chief Minister as well as evolving effective vigilance over the expenditures on development process. He further asked for enacting the new PFC formula of distribution of 50% funds on population basis, 25% on poverty, 20% on lag in infrastructure and 5% on loc al revenue basis soon after the start of next fiscal year so that administrative problems were timely solved and hurdles removed to get positive and far-reaching results of the funds, he concluded.-PR