K-P has not seen a penny of the Rs103.79 it is meant to receive. PHOTO: FILE
Contrary to public criticism being levelled against the federal government for creating hurdles in the release of Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) funds to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the provincial government also shares the blame in its inability to receive a single penny as yet.
Those familiar with the matter told The Express Tribune PSDP funds have not been released for the project known as ‘Capacity Building of Teachers Training Institutes and Training of Elementary School Teachers’ in K-P. Yet, PSDP funds have been released for the same project in the remaining three provinces.
Out of Rs106 million reserved for Balochistan for the fiscal year 2013-14, the federal government has already released Rs22.92 million for the same project. Rs73.12 million has been released for Punjab out of Rs365.54 million and Rs20 million out of Rs150 million for Sindh for the project.
K-P has not seen a penny of the Rs103.79 it is meant to receive and, according to insiders, the fault lies with the provincial government which has to make an official requisition to the centre. Unlike the other three provinces, it has still not taken this essential step, causing the delay, claimed official sources.
Instead the K-P government has been involved in a row with the centre over certain financial issues, including net-hydel profits. This financial matter has prompted the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government to criticise the federal government on several occasions.
Minister for Finance Sirajul Haq recently alleged the federal government has a hostile mentality towards the province. He claimed many development projects which await PSDP funds are being delayed because the decision making forums in the centre have not approved them yet.
A government official explained each year the federal government approves projects – through federal ministries – that are to be executed by the relevant provincial department. There are two types of PSDP funded programmes: horizontal and vertical, said the official.
Horizontal programmes are those which are funded and executed by the federal government and so the demand from funding comes from the federal ministries. The official cited constructions of a cadet college or a motorway as examples of such programmes.
Provincial governments do not come into the picture at any stage of the programme.
Vertical programmes are those where financing comes from the federal PSDP but projects are executed by the provinces. Such programmes include anti-polio drives, he added.
“The crucial point is that the demand for funds for those projects approved under the vertical programme must come from the relevant provincial ministry. However, the K-P Planning and Development (P&D) has not presented any official requisition for the release of funds,” said the official.
The problem thus resides in the K-P P&D department, maintained the official. He added the department needs to approach the release section of the Ministry of Planning and Development in Islamabad.
While Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan have requisitioned their funds in all 3 quarters of the current fiscal year, no such demand has been made by K-P’s P&D department.
When queried as to why the K-P government expects release of funds without completing due process, finance minister Haq replied the provincial government has in fact asked for funds to be released for projects worth billions of rupees through the PSDP but to no avail.
Secretary K-P P&D Aftab Durrani could not be reached for comments.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2014.
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