Unused funds earmarked for the fiscal year are set to lapse on June 30. PHOTO: FILE
Parliamentarians including those holding ministerial portfolios have intensified efforts to get their hands on funds earmarked for developmental projects before the fiscal year is out.
Each year, a substantial sum is apportioned in the budget for developmental schemes, legislators tend to secure much of it for projects in their respective constituencies – a move largely aimed at appeasing the local vote bank.
While most projects are delayed due to the red tape, some proposals barely make it beyond the Prime Minister’s Secretariat – subjected to undue delays, primarily due to lack of approval.
According to sources within the PM secretariat, many development projects end up being nothing more than paper tigers including a number of foreign trips.
Commenting on the matter, Sheikh Aftab, the Chief Whip of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said he has been unable to secure funds for development schemes he initiated.
Responding to whether he blames the government for the delay or bureaucratic red tape, he said there are some procedural hurdles.
Although the PML-N leader confessed that the fate of projects worth billions is hanging in the balance as a result of undue delays, he expressed his desire to fix the issue on priority basis.
Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Zahid Khan said that he raised a question regarding an incomplete project in his constituency during the Senate proceedings last November but to no avail.
Despite repeated assurances from the petroleum minister and secretary to Prime Minister’s Secretariat, the funds have not been released, he added.
Likewise, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi blamed the bureaucratic setup in the country for the delays in development schemes.
In a strongly worded diatribe, Mashhadi said, “If we accept excuses that thousands of cases are pending because of the premier’s hectic schedule then we should assume that the US president and the Indian prime minister probably have no time to run the affairs of their countries.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2014.
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