Sindh’s bureaucrats panicking over stalled funding as Islamabad relinquishes control

Only a miniscule part of the PSDP allocations have been released so far.

KARACHI: Devolution is a double-edged sword. On one hand, the provinces are happy that they now have control over departments that were previously managed by the federal government in Islamabad. But the downside is that now that these areas have to be managed by the provinces, they’re going to have to pay for them as well.

This is why there has been some concern in Sindh’s bureaucratic corridors about delays in previously promised funding for development projects. They could come to a grinding halt, said some officials. Sindh was expecting to receive Rs13 billion earmarked as the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the fiscal year 2010-2011. “[But now] the federal bureaucrats are not responding,” remarked Dr Kaiser Bengali, who advises the chief minister on planning and development.

“We will have a big challenge ahead of us because after the promulgation of the 18th Amendment, different departments will be devolved to the provincial government and the federal government will stop funding them,” he explained. “They will ask us to generate resources on our own to complete the schemes.” The money is normally released in the form of instalments. The sum paid in each instalment can range between 20 to 35 per cent of the total PSDP budget. According to Bengali, the total estimated cost of the ongoing development schemes is around Rs158 billion, and can be completed in the coming few years.

Officials backed Bengali’s statement. They said that the provincial government had sent numerous reminders to the centre. “The government has not responded to even a single reminder,” they added.

They told The Express Tribune that more than Rs13 billion was allocated for about 56 schemes, but only Rs50 million has come Sindh’s way so far. In the first quarter, Rs2.72 billion — which is around 20 per cent of the total allocation — was to be released by September. “But we have only received 50 million rupees for the Hyderabad Development Programme, which is around 0.4 per cent of the total PSDP allocation,” an official said.

After the floods, the government decided that there would be a fifty per cent cut in the amount spent on new development schemes, but ongoing ones would not be disrupted at any cost. Eleven schemes for the irrigation department worth Rs5.35 billion were included in the current PSDP. Also on hold are 26 finance department schemes worth Rs4.73 billion, four schemes worth Rs1.31 billion for the agriculture department, one Rs880 million scheme for the population and planning department, three schemes worth Rs230 million for the education department, six schemes worth Rs750 million for the health department and two schemes worth Rs200 million for the environment department.

Schemes for Sindh govt departments

Irrigation: 11 schemes worth Rs5.35b

Finance: 26 schemes worth Rs4.73b

Agriculture: four schemes worth Rs1.31b

Population: one scheme worth Rs880m

Education: three schemes worth Rs230m

Health: six schemes worth Rs750m

Environment: two schemes worth Rs200m

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2010.