Gives its nod to over two dozen new development projects. PHOTO: APP
The federal government on Monday cleared over two dozen new development schemes including the three-year Prime Minister’s Youth Training Programme costing Rs24.5 billion despite no allocation for the scheme in the budget.
The Central Development Working Party (CDWP), which has powers to approve up to Rs3 billion worth of projects and recommend those costing higher to the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec), cleared these development projects.
Headed by Minister of Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, the CDWP considered 28 schemes valuing over Rs150 billion in its meeting and deferred decision on three of them including the Prime Minister’s Skills Development Programme for the textile industry, which is estimated to cost Rs4 billion.
Like previous occasions, the planning minister again did not arrive on time to chair the meeting and another important discussion on the sustainable development goals. Because of delay of about two hours, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan Rachid Benmessaoud left the venue after waiting for about one and a half hours.
The CDWP cleared the PM’s Youth Training Programme (2015-18) for final approval of Ecnec. Iqbal also constituted a committee tasked with rationalising the cost and design of the scheme, according to an official of the Planning Commission (PC).
The PC’s appraisal sections had not got adequate time to critically review the project as the commission received project documents on August 3.
Politically motivated schemes are often sent for approval without a critical review, say sources in the Ministry of Planning.
The federal government has not earmarked anything for the scheme in the Public Sector Development Programme for 2015-16, which, according to officials, will lead to diversion of funds from existing projects to implement the PM’s programme.
Since coming to power more than two years ago, the PML-N government has been approving projects, mainly in the infrastructure sector. This has increased the size of PSDP-funded projects, though the government remains unable to provide financial resources.
For the last fiscal year, the revised PSDP budget was Rs543 billion, but actual spending stood below Rs490 billion.
The CDWP also cleared the Rs13.8-billion Punjab Police Integrated Command, Control and Communication Programme and funds for which would come from the provincial government’s Annual Development Plan.
It approved a power transmission project valuing Rs1.4 billion to transmit 1,320 megawatts, which would be generated with the help of imported coal at a plant being built in Sahiwal. For the award of 3,000 scholarships to Afghan students, the meeting cleared a Rs4.2-billion project. However, in the current fiscal year’s PSDP, the government had not made any allocation for the scheme.
A Rs941-million project was also approved for the award of 800 scholarships to students from Indian Jammu and Kashmir. The government had allocated Rs50 million for the current year.
In the meeting, Ahsan Iqbal asked the Ministry of Water and Power to finalise the National Water Policy in three months to save the country from water crisis. While the Ministry of Water and Power was pressed to formulate the policy, Iqbal’s ministry squeezed allocations for the water sector in the PSDP.
He also underlined the need of involving engineering fora and universities in framing the water policy. Iqbal stressed that water resource management was the need of the hour because of frequent floods as a result of climate change. “Whenever the issue of water rights is raised at the international level, the neighbouring country argues that Pakistan can’t manage its surplus water.”
The minister was of the view that the water issue was of utmost importance for future of the country. “Coming generations will not forgive us if we didn’t take appropriate steps to immediately address the water needs arising due to growing urbanisation.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 1st, 2015.
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