long-pending advertisement dues
PESHAWAR: Adviser to the Chief Minister on Finance Muzammil Aslam said on Wednesday that the provincial government would seek approval from the cabinet for a supplementary grant to clear the long-pending advertisement dues of newspapers. He stated this during a meeting with representatives of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) in Peshawar, a handout said. Officials of the provincial information department and relevant departments attended the meeting. Secretary information Muhammad Bakhtiar Khan informed the meeting that advertisement dues of newspapers have been pending since 1987, adding that the department had completed the necessary groundwork and reconciled the bills with various government departments. He said that total dues up to June 2025 amount to Rs1.4 billion. Of this, bills worth Rs798 million have been verified, while verification of Rs571 million was still under process, secretary information added. Mr Khan furthered that Rs94 million has already been paid to newspapers from the verified amount, whereas the remaining sum was yet to be released. Muzammil Aslam said clearing the arrears was the government’s responsibility and stressed that the issue, which had remained unresolved for decades, should not be delayed further. He directed the finance and information departments to immediately prepare and submit a summary for a supplementary grant to enable timely approval by the provincial cabinet.
