Development funds: Rs2.8b projects for Ahsan Iqbal’s constituency
Despite its own claims, the new government seems to be following in the footsteps of its predecessors.
PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal.
ISLAMABAD:
Despite its own claims, the new government seems to be following in the footsteps of its predecessors – at least as far as development funds are concerned.
Budget documents have revealed that Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has included three projects for his constituency, Narowal, in the upcoming fiscal year’s federal development budget by taking advantage of his official position. Iqbal, who is also the new deputy chairman of the Planning Commission (PC), was elected from NA-117 Narowal-III.
The three projects incorporated in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) by Iqbal are the construction of a campus of the University of Engineering & Technology Lahore and a sports complex at Narowal, along with the renovation of the Narowal Railway Station.
According to the documents, the projects have a total worth of Rs2.81 billion – 0.52% of the Rs540 billion allocated against 1,236 schemes of PSDP for 2013-14. A sum of Rs425 million has been earmarked to initiate work on these projects in the next fiscal year, they further revealed.
When asked to explain the rationale behind including the three projects in the new PSDP, PC officials remained tightlipped.
Due to the scarcity of resources, most development projects end up being delayed for years and result in further cost escalation. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has constituted a committee to identify and delete what Ahsan Iqbal himself termed ‘low priority and bogus projects of previous years’. Interestingly, this committee will be chaired by Iqbal.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2013.
Despite its own claims, the new government seems to be following in the footsteps of its predecessors – at least as far as development funds are concerned.
Budget documents have revealed that Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has included three projects for his constituency, Narowal, in the upcoming fiscal year’s federal development budget by taking advantage of his official position. Iqbal, who is also the new deputy chairman of the Planning Commission (PC), was elected from NA-117 Narowal-III.
The three projects incorporated in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) by Iqbal are the construction of a campus of the University of Engineering & Technology Lahore and a sports complex at Narowal, along with the renovation of the Narowal Railway Station.
According to the documents, the projects have a total worth of Rs2.81 billion – 0.52% of the Rs540 billion allocated against 1,236 schemes of PSDP for 2013-14. A sum of Rs425 million has been earmarked to initiate work on these projects in the next fiscal year, they further revealed.
When asked to explain the rationale behind including the three projects in the new PSDP, PC officials remained tightlipped.
Due to the scarcity of resources, most development projects end up being delayed for years and result in further cost escalation. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has constituted a committee to identify and delete what Ahsan Iqbal himself termed ‘low priority and bogus projects of previous years’. Interestingly, this committee will be chaired by Iqbal.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2013.