PESHAWAR: The opposition benches in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Wednesday declared several new taxes introduced in the budget for financial year 2014-15 unconstitutional, insisting imposing such taxes is the prerogative of the federal government.

During the budget debate in the house, the opposition MPAs said it was ironic that on one hand, finance minister Sirajul Haq had claimed that there was no new tax for the incoming fiscal but on the other, the government had imposed several new taxes.

They maintained the government had no right to impose taxes in light of unprecedented incidents of extortion, kidnapping for ransom, targeted killings and other crimes, which had made the life of the local residents miserable.Taking the floor, Qaumi Watan Party parliamentary leader Sikandar Hayat Sherpao said the imposition of taxes on the salaries of employees of the government departments and corporations was unconstitutional as it could be done by the federal government only.

He said the budget couldn`t be called pro-poor as agriculture and land had been heavily taxed.

Sherpao said imposition of new taxes was unprecedented.

`Every sector has been levied several times. On one hand, the brain drain and capital flight from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is on rise and on the other, the government has imposed several new taxes. It`s unfortunate,` he said.

Awami National Party parliamentary leader Sardar Hussain Babak said instead of providing incentives to them, the government had taxed private schools and thus, leveling the ground for substantial increase in the cost of education in the private sector.

He asked why the people should pay taxes if the government didn`t provide them with security.

The ANP leader said the government claimed credit for legislationson right to information, Ehtesab Commission and local government during its first year in office but ironically, it had yet to implement them in letter and spirit.

He said development funds of the province had been distributed among partners of the ruling coalition.

Babak said keeping in view the volatile law and order situation in the province, the police should have a bigger chunk in the budget but only Rs4 billion had been allocated for their operations while the rest of their funding would go to payment of salaries.

He said at the end of the third quarter of the ongoing financial year, the government had said only 23 per cent of development funds had been utilised but the utilisation of development fund surprisingly reached 97 per cent at the end of the fourth quarter.

`My question is that how 64 per cent development funds, which weren`t spent in three quarters of the year, can be utilised in a single quarter,` he said.

PML-N MPA Sardar Aurangzeb Nalotha said the budget had Rs404.8 billion, which was being collected from the people in theform of taxes, and therefore, the money should be fairly spent on their development.

He asked the government to explain why most of the development budget had been earmarked for the native districts of chief minister, senior minister and speaker of the assembly.

Sherpao said the new budget for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had around Rs64 billion deficit and therefore, it couldn`t be called a balanced budget as claimed by the government.

He said the budget deficit stood at 15.8 per cent of the total outlay of Rs404.80 billion.

The QWP leader said the developmental budget had operational shortfall of Rs12 billion and that though the net profit from hydel power generation had been capped at Rs6 billion, the government in its receipts had shown Rs12 billion, another shortfall of Rs6 billion.

He said a deficit of Rs14 billion was shown in the net capital amount of the outgoing year.

Sherpao said the PTI-led government had failed to deliver as no positive visible change had taken place in administrative affairs and the people`s life during its first year in office.