Chief Ministership Of Pervez Khattak

Pervez Khattak administration is the coalition of provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa between PTI, the Islamist, Jamaat-e-Islami, Qaumi Watan Party and AJIP. AJIP later merged itself with PTI.

Khattak carried out unprecedented healthcare reforms in the history of Pakistan, such as introducing Health Insurance Scheme, Sehat Sahulat Program for poor people and an 'Insulin for life' fund. He has also inspected hospitals and dismissed alleged corrupt staff and absent staff, often on the spot.

The police has been subjected to reforms. Police stations in remote regions have also been subject to surprise visits by IG. Anti-corruption drives in the police has led to the conviction of corrupt officers.

The administration severed links with fellow coalition partner Qaumi Watan Party over corruption and suspended membership of its minister. However QWP and Ziaullah Afridi have accused that Pervez Khattak cabinet itself was involved in corruption. Khattak administration also sacked ministers from its own party including Shaukat Ali Yousafzai and an advisor to Prevez Khattak over issues of poor performance.

PTI tried to move with religious ulema (clergy) to end discrimination against female education. But the policy of Madrassah reforms, especially funding Darul Uloom Haqqania renowned for its links with Taliban and killers of Benazir Bhutto was criticised by many. The 'VIP culture' has also been toned down and financial management done but not to the point that is needed for a developing country like Pakistan. The financial accountability introduced by Pakhtunkhwa entitled it to an extra Rs 1.5 billion ($150 million) from the federal government. It has begun infrastructure projects to build dams which will help to limit flooding and provide small scale electricity in remote areas.

Legislations

Budget

2013–2014

The administration began on 13 May 2013, when Pervez Khattak was elected as the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by receiving 84 votes out of 124 from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. Khattak was the Secretary General of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), he was nominated by the party chief Imran Khan for the post in the parliamentary board meeting and the parliamentary board after the discussion agreed to nominate him for chief ministership Pakhtunkhwa.
On June 17, the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government presented a balanced, tax-free budget for the fiscal year 2013–14. Finance Minister Siraj ul Haq presented Rs 344 billion budget in the provincial assembly session, which began with Speaker Asad Qaiser in the chair. The total resources (revenue and non-revenue) and total expenditure both have been estimated at Rs 344 billion, making it a balanced budget. No new tax was imposed. The government proposed an increase of 15 per cent in the salaries and pension of government employees. The minimum limit of the retired employees' pension has been increased from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000, while the minimum wages limit has been increased to Rs 10,000. A handsome amount of Rs 118 billion has been allocated for the ADP (annual development programme), showing a 12 per cent increase. The ADP covers a total of 983 projects– including 609 ongoing and 374 new development schemes.

The government's policies are geared towards radical change. At the end of its tenure, it aims at successfully imposing a uniform education system, ending corruption in government offices and bringing economic and political stability to the militancy-hit region. The administration is closely supervised by Imran Khan who chairs the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Development Advisory Committee. The committee comprises senior PTI members, including Asad Umar, Jehangir Khan Tareen, Ali Asghar Khan, Khalid Mehsud and Rustam Shah Mohmand.

It also increased 30% of total spending for education to 102 billion rupees while Rs 1.97 billion for promotion of technical education and manpower training. The minister said that Rs 22.80 billion have been earmarked for the health sector, Rs 23.78 billion for police, Rs3.12 billion for Irrigation, Rs2.91 billion for agriculture, Rs1.27 billion for the environment, Rs 4.93 billion for communication and works, Rs0.24 billion for pension and Rs2.50 billion for subsidy on wheat, while Rs 11.16 billion have been put aside for debt clearance. The budget was a brainchild of Asad Umar, according to ''The Express Tribune'' 'Budgets in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa have historically been a litany of complaints against the federal government, followed by a recitation of numbers that, frequently, the PTI-led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government delivered their first governing document and made sure to lay out their strategy for the development of the province and connect it to their spending decisions, as laid out in the numbers.'

Right to Information Bill

On July 10, 2013, the provincial Cabinet of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa approved the "Right to Information Bill" to guarantee people's access to information and promote transparency in affairs of the government. Under the proposed law, all matters of the government would be displayed on the official website of the provincial government and in case of seeking any information anybody would submit an application.

Local government laws

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government on July 21, 2013, expressed its willingness to enact laws allocating a quota for youth seats in the local government (LG) setup. The PTI has also suggested legislation to make the female electorate's participation mandatory only when voting for women candidates vying for local government seats. Local government setup would have union councils and district councils comprising farmers and women representatives. The development funds would be given to local governments instead of members of the provincial assemblies. It is expected the elections would be held in September 2013 for a 4-year term. A Local government bill was finally passed in October 2013 and included comprehensive reform and devolution of power to Local Government, which included financial and administrative independence, which is unprecedented in Pakistani history.

K-P Population Policy 2013

On January 12, 2014, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government published the first draft for population policy. According to the draft the government plans to decrease the population growth rate from 2.05% to 1.8% by 2020, by focusing on a major sensitisation drive, particularly among the youth and women, by proposing the inclusion of family planning in the curriculum for higher secondary education and academic levels above it.

Corruption, accountability and transparency

Ramadan price regulations

Unlike Punjab province, which experienced a runaway rise in prices during Ramadan, due to unfair consumer practices, in Pakhtunkhwa online price markets meant that businesses were forced to sell their goods at a non-monopolistic price, in line with fair trade rules

End of coalition with

Qaumi Watan Party

On November 13, 2013, ''Dawn News'' reported that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan ended his party's alliance with the Qaumi Watan Party after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak ‘dismissed’ two QWP ministers on corruption charges. The two QWP ministers expelled from the provincial cabinet were Bakht Baidar and Ibrar Hussain. The former held the ministry of industries, commerce and labour, while the latter was the environment minister.

The QWP was the first among the smaller parliamentary groups in the provincial assembly that had consented, after being contacted by Khattak, to support his party in forming the coalition government after it emerged as the largest party in the province. By virtue of Khan's decision, it also happens to be the first party that has been shown the door by the PTI.

Asset declaration

On August 1, 2013, the government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa directed all the government employees in the province to declare their assets by August 30, 2013. K-P minister for health and provincial government spokesperson Shaukat Ali Yousafzai stated that all the secretaries of the government departments were directed to issue notices to their employees to declare assets by August 30, 2013. He added that if politicians are required to declare their financial assets to the nation the same law should also be applied to government employees.

Biometric polling

On January 2, 2014, The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led provincial government pushed the Election Commission to hold the forthcoming local government election in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa using the biometric system and offered to assume the costs for such an approach. Official sources told The News that the experience of the recent mock polling held by the Election Commission in cooperation with the provincial government and NADRA at four polling stations in urban and rural Peshawar was discussed at a meeting in Islamabad and the shortcomings were reviewed.

They said another mock polling using the biometric machines developed by National Database and Registration Authority would now be held in Islamabad, possibly before January 14 to see if the process could be improved. The official sources said the PTI-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was keen to try the biometric system in the local government election in the province to ensure transparent polls and was ready to bear the cost that is estimated at between one and two billion rupees. An estimated 50,000 biometric machines would be required for polling votes in the province.

Development

Education

Education City

On December 16, 2013, ''The Express Tribune'' around 20 international universities have expressed an interest in opening up campuses at ‘Education City’ in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The proposed hub will accommodate campuses of national and international universities to provide Pakistani students with the opportunity to obtain foreign degrees at home, stated officials of the provincial higher education department. Around 30,000 kanals of land in Jehangira will be used to build the education city. The project will be adjacent to the proposed Mega-City near the Swabi