AJK LA approves Rs 139.5 billion budget.

MUZAFFARABAD -- Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly (LA) Tuesday approved Rs 139.5 budget for the fiscal year 2020-21 with a development outlay of Rs 24.5 billion after debate concluded.

Minister for Health and Finance Dr. Najeeb Naqi presented the demands for grant for coming fiscal year and revised estimates for fiscal year ended on June 30 in the LA session conducted following the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) regarding COVID-19.

The total income for the fiscal year 2020-21 has been estimated Rs 115 billion compared to the last fiscal year's estimate of Rs 97 billion which shrunk to Rs 94 billion in the revised estimates.

The current expenditures for the new fiscal year are estimated Rs 115 billion same as estimates of income and the development expenditures of Rs 24.5 would be provided from the federal government in the form of grants.

The government itself would collect Rs 28.5 billion out of which Rs 20.6 billion in the head of income tax and Rs 7.9 billion in the head of other taxes and share from FBR taxes is estimated Rs 70 billion, Rs. 19.9 billion are estimated from the state revenue and Rs 670 million in the head of water use charges from the federal government.

A huge amount of Rs 28.88 billion has been allocated for education department; Rs. 22 billion has been allocated for the payment of pension to retired employees, Rs 10 billion has been allocated for health department, an amount of

Rs 16.524 billion has been allocated in the head of miscellaneous expenditures (grants) while Rs 8.762 billion has been allocated for electricity department.

In the development expenditures, the biggest amount of Rs 10.2 billion has been allocated for roads and communication network, more than Rs 2.57 for education, Rs 2.795 for local government and rural development, Rs 2.155 billion for housing and physical planning, Rs 1.7 billion for power development and one billion rupees for development schemes of the health department.

The finance minister in his concluding speech said that 72 percent development funds in the coming fiscal year budget had been allocated for ongoing development schemes and 28 percent were allocated for new development schemes and claimed that 119 schemes had been completed during the last fiscal year and a target of the completion of 190 ongoing schemes had been fixed in the new budget.

He said in the development budget, 72 percent funds had been allocated for infrastructure development, 9 % for...