Lapsing ADP funds: Siraj claims Rs72 billion released to government depts till May 26

Finance minister defends financial policies, says province was awarded bonus of Rs1.5 billion.

PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s financial managers on Thursday claimed their department has released Rs72 billion of the annual development programme (ADP) till May 26, 2014.

Talking to reporters at the inauguration of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (KP-PPRA) office, Senior Minister for Finance Sirajul Haq and Secretary Finance Syed Badshah Bukhari defended the government’s financial policies even as they were grilled over the ADP. They added the federal government had even awarded the province a bonus of Rs 1.5 billion for good financial management practices.

Show me the money

However, Siraj and his bureaucratic honcho had to field tough questions over the lapse of a large chunk of the province’s ADP.

Both maintained the finance department released most of the funds by May 26 and it was up to each department how much of its share can be utilised.



At one point, Siraj said the finance department released about 75% of ADP funds. However, the secretary finance quickly jumped in, saying the actual allocation till May 26 was Rs72 billion – after taking into account an operational shortfall of Rs10.7 billion in the government’s share of the ADP.

Bukhari said unutilised funds will lapse on June 30 and will have to be re-appropriated through the assembly, however, both the finance minister and secretary did not disclose the amount of ADP which will lapse.

New digs

Earlier, Sirajul Haq inaugurated the new office of KP-PPRA.

The regulatory authority’s managing director, Syed Mohammad Javed, briefed the gathering about reviving the otherwise dormant authority.

Javed said KP-PPRA was set up in 2012 and an act was also passed by the K-P Assembly, however, it had been lying dormant since then.

The erstwhile NWFP was the first to work towards regulating the procurement of goods, works and services back in 2002 – well ahead of other provinces, shared the managing director.

The provincial government notified procurement rules on January 14, 2004 on this basis, called the NWFP Procurement of Goods, Works and Service Rules, 2003.

According to Javed, the authority will ensure good governance, transparency, accountability and quality in the procurement of goods, works and services.

Secretary Finance Bukhari said the KP-PPRA will provide the general framework of procurement across government departments.

The finance minister underscored the need of regulatory bodies, saying it was a lack of public trust in the government that resulted in low tax collections. “Powerful people were above the law and this VIP culture has laid waste to talent and skills.”

The Right to Information law has led to improvement across the government machinery and will continue to lead to more improvement in the future, added Siraj.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2014.