The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has drafted a bill to change legislation concerning the use of its helicopter and other province-specific topics.
Following the modification, no one will be allowed to dispute the helicopter’s usage, including who uses it and why it is utilized.
According to the amendment proposal, the usage of the government’s helicopter from November 2008 to the present will be considered legitimate and valid. No questions may be made regarding the usage of the helicopter, which may be rented for personal use.
However, approval must be obtained from the province’s chief minister for personal usage.
In addition to the chief minister, the proposal specifies that ministers, advisers, special assistants, and government employees may utilize the government’s helicopter.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s frequent usage of the KP government’s aircraft for personal travel and commuting to party rallies has made using the chopper controversial.
After the National Accountability Bureau (NB) produced a list of 1,800 defaulters and unauthorized users of the KP’s helicopter in violation of the laws, including Khan, the Public Accounts Committee ordered the bureau to make prompt recoveries from all unauthorized users on the list.
According to the document, Khan traveled 137 times using KP’s official helicopter at the cost of Rs55.5 million at official rates and Rs66.9 million at commercial rates.
The district monitoring officer accused KP’s Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and other ministers of Charsadda of abusing the official helicopter and state resources for Khan’s rally, who was one of the contestants in the by-elections.
In addition, a proposal has been drafted to change the law covering ministers’ wages, allowances, and perks.
After adding it to the agenda for the assembly’s session, the government would likely approve the modification to the act.
It should be remembered that Khan has been penalized in the past for using a government helicopter while serving as prime minister. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau called him for allegedly utilizing KP’s helicopters, and the anti-corruption agency investigated the matter.
