Pakistan Army Said Seeking Defence Budget Increase
2006-03-18
BBC Monitoring South Asia
Islamabad: The Ministry of Defence has demanded an increase of 61bn rupeesin the defence budget to meet the needs of the armed forces, and the National Assembly Special Committee working under the Public Accounts Committee has already supported the demand.
The committee meeting, which was held at the Parliament House on Friday [17 March] under the leadership of Chairman Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, reviewed the expenditures of the ministry for the year 1991-92.
Some officers from the auditor-general criticized that the finances provided to the welfare of army officers should be audited but the practice is not always followed. GHQ senior officers replied with the comment that the Army works under a particular discipline and they still need 11,000 houses for the married Army officers, but lack of funds rules out the possibility.
The officers informed the committee that India had increased its budget to 900bn rupees but Pakistan's defence budget has been the same for the last two years. They said 223bn had been allocated for the defence services while the Army needs 284bn rupees for the purpose. They said 61bn rupees is still needed to fulfil their requirements. They said the Army is answerable to parliament and their morale is high in spite of difficulties. Nisar said the same rules apply to the Army and other government ministries and every rupee drawn out of the state treasury must be audited.
He assured that parliament recognises the problem of the Army and they would raise the issue in the Public Accounts Committee. He said the Army needed to get stronger but there has been misuse of finances in the Army, just the way it happens in other civil services offices, which is a condemnable act. He said even the president and the prime minister cannot allocate finances to any ministry without following proper rules and regulations. He assured that he would raise the issue of more allocation of funds to the Army in the Public Accounts Committee and try to formulate a policy for the purpose.
http://www.blackenterprise.com/yb/ybopen.a...blackenterprise
2006-03-18
BBC Monitoring South Asia
Islamabad: The Ministry of Defence has demanded an increase of 61bn rupeesin the defence budget to meet the needs of the armed forces, and the National Assembly Special Committee working under the Public Accounts Committee has already supported the demand.
The committee meeting, which was held at the Parliament House on Friday [17 March] under the leadership of Chairman Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, reviewed the expenditures of the ministry for the year 1991-92.
Some officers from the auditor-general criticized that the finances provided to the welfare of army officers should be audited but the practice is not always followed. GHQ senior officers replied with the comment that the Army works under a particular discipline and they still need 11,000 houses for the married Army officers, but lack of funds rules out the possibility.
The officers informed the committee that India had increased its budget to 900bn rupees but Pakistan's defence budget has been the same for the last two years. They said 223bn had been allocated for the defence services while the Army needs 284bn rupees for the purpose. They said 61bn rupees is still needed to fulfil their requirements. They said the Army is answerable to parliament and their morale is high in spite of difficulties. Nisar said the same rules apply to the Army and other government ministries and every rupee drawn out of the state treasury must be audited.
He assured that parliament recognises the problem of the Army and they would raise the issue in the Public Accounts Committee. He said the Army needed to get stronger but there has been misuse of finances in the Army, just the way it happens in other civil services offices, which is a condemnable act. He said even the president and the prime minister cannot allocate finances to any ministry without following proper rules and regulations. He assured that he would raise the issue of more allocation of funds to the Army in the Public Accounts Committee and try to formulate a policy for the purpose.
http://www.blackenterprise.com/yb/ybopen.a...blackenterprise