Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Elementary and Secondary Education Department has proposed a budget allocation of Rs238 billion for the four months of the fiscal year 2023-24.

“Rs201 billion has been proposed for salaries of employees, Rs30 billion for non-salary expenditure and Rs7 billion for the development programme – out of the total funds of Rs238 billion,” Adviser to the KP CM for Education Rehmat Salam Khattak told Aaj News on Tuesday.

The caretaker setup is expected to present the budget this month, according to reports as the province deals with the impact of last year’s flash floods and rise in militancy.

Khattak was of the view that the development budget allocation has declined compared with the last year. The government cannot allocate funds for new programmes as the development budget was only 7% of the total budget, he added.

“The department will work on the pending development projects, which are nearing completion, rather than allocating funds for new projects,” said the CM’s adviser.

When asked about the May 9 events, he vowed to bring to justice all those involved in attacking government properties.

“The government employees are not allowed to participate in political events. If any government employee is found involved in the vandalisation of public properties on May 9, he will lose his employment,” said Khattak.

On Monday, Adviser to the CM on Finance Himayatullah said that the interim government had prepared the budget for the financial year 2023-24, however, it would present an approximately Rs600 billion budget for the next four months.

“If the new government does not come within time then there will not be any issue of budget for the rest of the year as the government has already prepared the budget for the whole fiscal year,” he said.

The adviser said that there was a consideration of 15% to 20% increase in salaries and pensions while no new tax would be levied in the budget and no new development plan would be included.