Provinces holding back: Fertiliser subsidy to cause disruption again

Punjab only one to contribute last year, ministry predicts same outcome

ISLAMABAD: During his budget speech, Finance Minster Dar announced that the government’s fertiliser subsidy this year again comprises of 50% share from provincial governments. This decision was made despite the fact that last year only the Punjab government contributed its due share in the subsidy package.

A source in the food ministry told The Express Tribune that the federal government has again designated provincial governments to contribute 50% towards the subsidy share without any commitment.

The official mentioned that other than Punjab no other province had provided its due share in the subsidy last year, which created disruption during the distribution process.

The total amount of the subsidy charged from the provinces amounts to Rs40 billion. The officer said that they had been facing challenges last year due to lack of cooperation from the three provinces, despite sending multiple reminders, the provinces failed to contribute their share.

“I don’t think that this year the situation will change because the amount is even more than previous year’s allocation,” said the official.

The source added that the ministry had recommended to the finance division to deduct the subsidy share directly from the divisible pool of the province.

Out of the total Rs10 billion provincial share of the Rs20 billion DAP subsidy last year, only Punjab managed to contribute Rs7 billion whereas the remaining provinces Sindh, K-P and Balochistan turned a deaf ear towards the requests of the federal government.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2016.

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