PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak Wednesday asked the federal government to give 13 per cent agreed share of the total power generation of the province.
Speaking during a budget debate in the provincial assembly, he said this would enable the province to meet its energy demand, warning that the provincial government would stage protest otherwise.
He said his government made record utilisation of funds in the history of the country under the head of Annual Development Programme last year with 85 per cent of spending.
He said the previous governments of the province left a lot of junk for them that could not be cleared overnight, despite the PTI-led coalition government took various considerable steps and tried to put the things straight.
He told the house that the federal government had started paying outstanding dues under the head of net hydel profit in installments, adding that earlier the payable amount under the net hydel profit was Rs 6 billion, but his government took to the court and the centre agreed to pay Rs 12 billion annually.
Referring to Chashma lift canal project, he said the provincial assembly deserves credit for jointly pursuing the matter with the federal government and make them allocate funds for the project in the federal budget.
Khattak said the provincial government had also taken up the issue of royalty on gas, oil and electricity with the federal government and asked them to pay the amount to the province.
Speaking on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, he said that due to the joint efforts of opposition and treasury the federal government had allocated funds for expressway and railway track from Peshawar to DI Khan under the project.
Referring to the improvements in education sector he said a six-room primary school with six teachers would now be set up across the province.
About health sector, the chief minister said the PTI was the first government of the province that had given autonomy to the hospital, enabling them to improve health services besides generating their own resources.
He said the government had increased salaries of doctors so that they might not resort to private practice to earn money.
He also informed that he would visit government-run hospitals on weekly basis to monitor the health services. He further said that a health insurance programme had been introduced in 24 districts of the province.
Referring to emergency services, Khattak said the services of Rescue 1122 had been extended to 12 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Speaking about environment, he said the provincial government had initiated a billion-tree tsunami campaign to stop further deforestation besides protecting the environment.
