LAHORE: The allocated funds for the Chief Minister’s Secretariat have been increased by a little over Rs100 million over the past year while those for the Governor House rose by only Rs9.5 million in the provincial budget.
Another noteworthy feature of the budget is the slash in the allocation to the cabinet due to the reduction in the number of ministers from 111 to 58.
The government has allocated Rs266.419 million to meet the current expenditure of the CM’s Secretariat during 2010-11 against Rs165.323 million of the corresponding year, 2009-10.
It means the government has increased the expenditure by Rs101.09 million for the coming year. The expenditure of the secretariat was fixed at Rs165.323 million during the last year but was revised and re-fixed at Rs292.526 million for the same financial year, owing to heavy spending after the creation of 17 new posts to accommodate some party men.
The number of secretariat employees was increased from 913 to 932, which includes 115 officers including 11 in special scale, one principal secretary in BS-21, one secretary in BS-20, four additional secretaries, 14 deputy secretaries and others.
In 2009-10, there were 98 officers posted in the CM’s Secretariat. Now the number of officers stands at 115 and all of the 17 new officers have received a special pay package. The new posts include: one each of chief secretary, co-coordinator, chief co-coordinator, chief photographer, director, member, media coordinator, network administrator, programmer, two personal staff officers and four systems engineers.
The officers will get Rs31.016 million as pay; the subordinates Rs63.522 million and the officials posted in the Secretariat will get Rs126.307 as allowances during 2010-11.
The operating expenditure has been calculated as Rs27.304 million, with Rs13 million allocated for entertainment and gifts, Rs5.270 million for repair and maintenance, Rs4 million for transport and Rs1.05 million for the purchase of machinery and equipment.
Meanwhile, the government has allocated Rs118.793 million, including Rs49.812 million to meet the current expenditure of the Governor’s Secretariat and Rs68.981 million for the Governor’s House during 2010-11.
In 2009-10, the allocation was Rs109.238 million including Rs48.842 million for the Governor’s Secretariat and Rs60.396 million for the Governor’s House – meaning that only Rs9.56 million have been additionally allocated in the current budget to meet the expenditure of the governor.
In addition to the operating expenditures, the Punjab government has separately allocated Rs14.367 million to meet the salaries, allowances and transport facilities of Governor Salmaan Taseer during 2010-11. In the outgoing year 2009-10, the same amount was allocated for the Punjab governor.
There are 183 employees in the Governor’s Secretariat including 24 officers and 159 subordinates; while the Governor’s House has a total of 274 employees including 23 officers and 251 subordinate staff to assist the incumbent in official obligations.
As for the Punjab cabinet, the government has allocated Rs140.176 million to meet the current liabilities of 58 provincial cabinet members during the next financial year 2010-11 against the amount of Rs202.578 million of the corresponding year ending on June 30.
It is noteworthy that the Punjab government allocated Rs202.578 million to meet the salaries, allowances, communication, travelling, gifts, entertainment and purchase of equipment for the 111-member provincial cabinet last year. This year the size in the provincial cabinet has been reduced by 53.
The chief minister, ministers, advisers, parliamentary secretaries and special assistants will get Rs58.576 as salaries, Rs40.708 as regular allowances, Rs1.5 million as other allowances, Rs12.9 million for travel and transportation, and Rs34.8 as grants and write-off to the voters.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 15th, 2010.
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