ISLAMABAD: As the Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif had announced Rs 3 billion grant for rehabilitation of flood affectees in Gilgit Baltistan, President, on the Advice of Prime Minister has approved transfer of Rs. 3 billion from consolidated account of GB Council.
According to official sources, the Finance Division, which was directed to give the grant to flood affectees, has later managed the amount from the upper body of GB (GB Council).
Since the transfer of funds from GB Council legally required approval from the President, the due process was completed accordingly.
Earlier, the GB government had also demanded the transfer of the said amount from the consolidated account of the council to it to meet the extra budgetary requirement after flood and other natural calamities across the region.
Through a letter to the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and GB on August 23, 2022, the Chief Minister GB Khalid Khurshid had informed that the flood spells, like other provinces of the country, have massively damaged public and private properties in GB.
The lost/damaged properties include standing crops, trees, houses, cattle and cattle sheds, roads, bridges, power houses and allied installations. The GB government has mobilized all available resources for the temporary settlement of internally displaced people and for restoration of damaged public properties. However, owing to no increase in the annual grant of GB by the Federal Government for the current financial year 2002-23, it is almost impossible to compensate the private losses and to get the damages of public properties worth billions of rupees restored. In these challenging times, the GB Council Consolidated Fund can be utilized for rehabilitation of properties mentioned above.
The said account, reportedly, has ample budget in it and after promulgation of Gilgit-Baltistan Order 2018 should have been transferred to GB Government.
Subsequently, the Finance Division after knowing the availability of the amount on account of the GB Council had also written a letter to the Council for transfer of the same to the regional government.
The Council had earlier collected the amount through taxes and other charges under the subjects it dealt in GB.
Chief Secretary Gilgit Baltistan Muhiudeen Wani has claimed that the GB government would ensure that the money was spent in a transparent and efficient manner.
On September 3, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif during his visit to GB was informed that a total of 10,000 kanals of agricultural land, more than 1,000 houses, dozens of bridges, hundreds of water supply lines, water channels and hundreds of kilometers of roads had been partially or completely damaged.
After the briefing, the prime minister announced a Rs3 billion grant to G-B for rehabilitation and reconstruction. He also announced to give Rs1 million compensation for the families of the deceased persons, besides Rs25,000 support for each affected family.
