Federal govt owes Rs 110 billion to Pakistan Army
* Army asking for funds since July, but government reluctant on plea theyve been spent on other heads
By Razi Syed
KARACHI: The federal government owes Rs 110 billion to the Pakistan Army, meant for different arsenal and civilian development projects, a Finance Ministry official revealed on Sunday.
The army has been asking for money since July, but the government is reluctant to release such a big amount on the plea that it has been spent on other heads, he maintained.
He said, The army has only received Rs 9.2 billion for administrative purposes while another amount of Rs 3.23 billion for development projects. He said it was astonishing that more than Rs 4 billion was also pending with the government, which had been granted to the army by the UN to provide services as peacekeeping forces in different states. He said the army had so far received Rs 6.3 billion out of the total UN grant of more than Rs 10 billion.
The Pakistan Army has so far received $16.7 billion from the United States and its allies for being a frontline state on the war on terrorism.
The Pakistan Army has received only Rs 43 billion so far from the government and during 2010, not a single penny has been given to the force, he claimed.
The army lacks funds, which it wanted to spend on development of arsenal capabilities, research work, repairs and buying of essential warheads. The ministry official said Rs 80 billion had to be spent on different army development projects, seven percent of the total amount had to be spent on purchase of necessary instruments, three percent on development of Naval Frigate Programme and 90 percent on repair and maintenance of F-16 and F-7 aircraft.
He said the government had allocated Rs 20 billion to the army to support it in the war against terror but no amount has been released yet, he asserted.
An amount of Rs 72.77 billion had been paid last year from the Pakistan Army Welfare Fund and Fauji Foundation to the governments various tax departments, he added.
The Pakistan Army, in many reminders to the federal government, has requested for releasing these funds so it could continue its development as well start necessary arsenal and army purchases. It has also requested the government to release the money as soon as possible so it could also clear the backlog on its different heads.
The Finance Ministry official said the federal government should take this matter seriously as the Pakistan Army is braving the terrorists, besides guarding the countrys frontiers.
