Voicing their protests against the Pakistan government’s decision to make huge cuts in the financial grants for Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK), the members of the cabinet and parliamentary secretaries of the region decided not to present 2022-2023 budget. PoK Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas presided over the meeting of the members. According to him, the federal government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is inflicting budget cuts on the provinces of PoK and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan.
Speaker of the PoK Legislative Assembly, Chaudhry Anwarul Haq voiced a similar opinion, stating that budget cuts will have an adverse impact on the region. According to reports, PoK leaders present at the meeting agreed to speak out in unison on the matter of budget cuts. Meanwhile, Khawaja Farooq Ahmed, the PoK Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, also accused the federal government of harbouring “deep animosity” towards the people of PoK and Gilgit Baltistan by imposing budget cuts in the territory.
The region’s development budget slashed by Rs 5.2 billion: PoK minister
According to Ahmed, the PoK administration has been asked to prepare a Rs 29 billion development budget for the next fiscal year. “At the same time, we have also been asked not only to foot the bills of the projects directly sponsored by the federal government earlier but also to make payments of salaries to the employees of foreign-funded projects from the Rs 29 billion,” Ahmed told Pakistan daily, Dawn. Furthermore, Ahmed expressed concern regarding the substantial budget cuts, stating that the current year’s development budget had been reduced by Rs 5.2 billion.
PoK leader calls for addressing the budget issues on ‘war footing’
“In the backdrop of this situation, we will be practically left with hardly Rs 8-9 billion in next fiscal year’s development budget which is why the parliamentary party is unanimous that preparation of the budget is next to impossible,” the PoK minister added. Earlier, Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, a human rights activist and the head of the United Kashmir People’s National Party (UKPNP), highlighted the suffering of the people in PoK, calling the budget cut scenario alarming and asked the federal government to address the issue on a “war footing.”
Earlier on June 11, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led PML-N government introduced the budget for the fiscal year 2022-2023 based on an inflation rate of 11.5% and an economic growth of 5% for the coming four quarters. Notably, the country is experiencing a catastrophic economic collapse as a result of a slew of challenges including depleted foreign exchange reserves, sky-high fuel prices, and a debt crisis.