MINGORA: Jamaat-e-Islami Khyber Pakhtunkhwa North head, Inayatullah Khan, on Friday criticised the provincial government’s decision to drop and freeze development schemes worth Rs50 billion in Malakand Division, terming it a clear sign of administrative failure and poor financial management.
Addressing a press conference here, he said that development projects worth Rs28 billion had been completely dropped from the Annual Development Programme (ADP), while schemes worth another Rs20 billion had been frozen, depriving the people of the region of essential infrastructure and public services.
He demanded the immediate restoration of all suspended projects and urged the government to prioritise and complete previously approved development schemes without further delay. He emphasised that allocations for the education and health sectors should be substantially increased in the upcoming provincial budget.
Expressing concern over the government’s salary policy, Inayatullah Khan said that public sector employees deserved a meaningful increase in salaries and benefits in line with rising inflation and economic pressures.
He also called for the immediate withdrawal of the Services Sales Tax in Malakand Division, arguing that the people of the region could not bear additional financial burdens. Criticising the federal government, he rejected the increase in General Sales Tax on raw materials from 12 percent to 14 percent, warning that such measures could force industrial units to shut down and further damage economic activity.
The Jamaat-e-Islami leader strongly opposed any move to impose income tax in Malakand Division and the merged tribal districts, demanding that the proposal be withdrawn. He alleged that both provincial and federal governments had failed to provide relief to the public and that signs of financial mismanagement were becoming increasingly evident.
Inayatullah Khan also questioned the provincial government’s decision to appoint a financial adviser from Karachi, asking whether none of the 91 members of the provincial assembly was capable of handling the responsibility.
He said that Jamaat-e-Islami head Hafiz Naeemur Rehman was actively struggling for public rights and urged citizens to support the party’s efforts. He warned that if taxes continued to be imposed in Malakand Division and the merged districts, Jamaat-e-Islami, in collaboration with the trader community, would launch a vigorous public movement against the government.
