NWFP expedites finalising process of budget for 2009-10

The NWFP Finance Department has expedited work on the preparation of the annual budget of the province for financial year 2009-10. In this connection, the Provincial Minister for Finance, Mohammad Humayun Khan is holding meetings with his cabinet colleagues for seeking their proposals and recommendations for the budget.
The provincial minister for finance on Saturday held meetings with provincial ministers, Mian Iftikhar Hussein (Information), Wajid Ali Khan (Forests, Environment), Saleem Khan (Population Welfare), Namroz Khan (Auqaf), Syed Aqil Shah (Sports, culture, tourism), Sardar Hussein Babak (Education) and Mian Nisar Gul Kakakhel (Prisons).
The finance minister had already held meetings with six ministers included NWFP Senior Minister for Local Government Bashir Ahmad Bilour, Senior Minister for Planning and Development, Rahim Dad Khan, Minister for Irrigation, Pervez Khan Khattak, Minister for Agriculture Arbab Ayub Jan, Minister for Social Welfare Sitara Ayaz, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Barister Arshad Abdullah, Minister for Labour Sher Azam Khan Wazir, Minister for Excise and Taxation Liaqat Shabab and Minister for Technical Education Mahmood Zeb Khan. All the administrative secretaries of the concerned departments were also present on the occasion.
Speaking in the meeting of the ministers the Finance Minister, Mohammad Humayun Khan directed all the line departments to work generously for mobilisation of resources, curtail non-developmental expenditures and honest utilisation of the fund in the interest of the downtrodden people of the province.
Humayun said the province was passing through crisis like situation. It was need of the hour to spend public money cautiously by the officers of the departments avoiding unnecessary expenditures and to create more income generating projects so that the expected shortfalls in the coming budget could be tackled with constructive trends.
He said, he wanted to provide relief to the needy people and that could only be possible when all the line departments extended co-ordination to the finance department in the sanctioning process of budgetary allocations.
The minister finance stated that he would take all the public representatives into confidence before next budget could be presented and a broad-based policy to be framed with an aim to provide benefit to the common man. During the meeting budget estimates were reviewed and amendments were proposed in allocated budget of certain important departments.
The Minister for Information and PR Mian Iftikhar Hussain eulogised the importance of the information and public relations department and stated that this department was covering all the other line departments and to increase its budget allocations was very necessary especially in the interest of the journalist community.
The finance minister approved certain projects for the information department with a commitment that this department would be provided with all the necessary know-how. The minister finance also stressed the need for 100 percent recovery of taxes by the departments concerned and stated that leniency on the part of any department would effect the overall official working. He said when the income generating departments fulfil their task then the non-income generating departments would properly be feed.