Halfway through fiscal year, less than 1% of development budget spent

Chief minister says all the schemes must be wrapped up in four months.

KARACHI:

Provincial departments have spent only Rs1.14 billion of the Rs231 billion allotted to them for the current fiscal year. Unhappy with the sluggish pace, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah put his foot down on Saturday and asked the heads of departments to wrap up all development projects within four months.

He met the heads of the provincial government departments and their secretaries at the Chief Minister House to discuss why the holdups were occurring. He took the secretaries to task and asked them why the schemes have been delayed even though the funds have been released.

Of the total budget, Rs161 billion are for projects funded by the provincial government, Rs50 billion from foreign project assistance and Rs20 billion set aside for districts. The additional chief secretary for planning and development said that Rs11.26 billion had been allocated for ongoing schemes and Rs4.83 billion for new ones. He said that, in all, Rs3.41 billion was released and so far Rs1.14 billion has been spent on special projects. Chief Minister Sindh said that the next four months are very important and all departments should concentrate on completing the schemes.

The spokesperson for the Chief Minister House said that it takes between three and four months to approve schemes and release funds. He said that the bulk of the funds are utilised five months after the budget is set.

The chief minister said that he wanted to see the health, education, irrigation and agriculture departments’ schemes finished before the current government completes its tenure. He said that the bureaucrats must closely monitor the work to ensure that the projects are finished on time.

Chief secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas and additional chief secretary of finance, Muhammad Arif Khan, were among those who attended the meeting.

Mess in Jacobabad

The chief minister criticised the education department, saying that some officers were not following proper procedures. Last week, Jacobabad’s deputy commissioner had discovered that education officers in the district had hired 3,000 people for 150 vacant posts. Allegations of bribery and corruption by education officers in Shikarpur have also emerged.

The chief minister said that departments should not fill vacant posts without seeking permission first. He said that all officers who violate the law will be dealt with harshly.  He said that committees have already been created to monitor the process of hiring people for government jobs. The chief secretary assured Shah that the programme and policies of the government will be followed closely.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2012.