ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to include a proposal to increase the Parliament’s expenses by Rs 800-900 million in the federal budget for the fiscal year 2016-17.
According to reports, an increase of Rs 600 million has been suggested in the budget of the National Assembly, whereas that of the Senate is believed to be increased by Rs 270 million.
Moreover, an increase of Rs 1 billion and Rs 250 million have been suggested for the funds of the salaries of the Members of National Assembly (MNAs), whereas Rs 340 million have been reserved for increment in the salaries of the Senators.
It has also been reported that an increase of Rs 400 million has been suggested for the funds of the Speaker’s office. Likewise, the Deputy speaker’s office is also expected a raise of Rs 7 million in its funds whereas the Opposition leader’s office shall be given an additional Rs 100.5 million raise in its funds.
An extra Rs 600 million have been reserved for the Kashmir committee, led by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman. The government has also allocated Rs7.5 billion for the science and technology ministry for the financial year 2016-17.
For 2016-17, the science and technology ministry got the lowest increase in the budget allocation for funds set aside during the past five years. Of the total amount, Rs1.8 billion was allocated for development projects and Rs5.7 billion for the non-development budget.