Punjab

Govt withdraws funds released for four mega schemes

LHC Rawalpindi bench summons officials to appear with details of projects put on hold

Qaiser Shirazi February 18, 2023

RAWALPINDI:

Citing a severe financial crunch, the Punjab caretaker government has withdrawn funds released for four mega projects of Rawalpindi and halted development work on new and under-construction projects.

According to sources, the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) and the district administration returned the fund to the provincial exchequer.

They said the move is likely to increase the overall cost of the mega projects by a whooping Rs500 million to Rs2 billion.

Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi bench’s Justice Justice Tanveer Sultan has taken strict notice of the government’s move to put the projects on the back burner and served notices on the caretaker government, Punjab chief secretary, Rawalpindi commissioner, deputy commissioner, and officials of the ministry of local government.

The court asked the respondents to appear before the court along with the details of funds for all the development schemes which have been put on hold.

The court issued orders while hearing petitions filed by former members of the national and provincial assemblies Sadaqat Abbasi and Latasub Satti.

The petitioners adopted the stance that the caretaker government is empowered only to deal with the day-to-day affairs of the province and it can not halt ongoing development schemes and withdraw released funds.

“This is an injustice to the people of Rawalpindi district. Therefore, this step should be reversed and the development schemes should be resumed,” they stated. The petitioners said unwarranted delays increased the overall cost of the projects enormously.

Former provincial minister Mohammad Basharat Raja strongly condemned the decision terming it ‘a cruel move’.

The former minister announced that he would restore this project after winning the Punjab assembly elections and would restore the new districts of Murree and Tala Gang.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2023.