Hi, this was a sad article to read. The present government can find 3B rupees to build lodging for the MPs and their staff and also build an underground tunnel, but not for these key projects. Also state enterprises cost the current government 400B rupees annually, and this money is simply printed and increases the deficit.
805 uplift projects come to a halt | Newspaper | DAWN.COM
/***********************************************
805 uplift projects come to a halt
By Khaleeq Kiani | From the Newspaper
March 15/2011
Another 557 projects have been provided up to a maximum of Rs5 million during the first eight months of the current year.
ISLAMABAD: More than 805 development projects of the current years development programme, mostly in the road construction, education and power sectors, have come to a complete halt because of a 40 per cent financial cut imposed by the federal government.
Another 557 projects have been provided up to a maximum of Rs5 million during the first eight months of the current year, suggesting that a total of 1,362 projects are non-starters because most of the payments have been made against their previous expenditures, informed sources told Dawn.
Anyone can notice contractors moving their machinery and equipment from the development schemes or leaving their contracts unfinished. Many of them are even short of funds to purchase petrol and diesel to move machinery and equipment to a safe place, a top Planning Commission official confirmed.
The government had allocated Rs242 billion in local currency for the Public Sector Development Programme that was cut down to Rs150 billion by diverting about Rs92 billion for deficit financing, according to latest update of the Planning Commission. Total releases for PSDP schemes have been to meagre Rs96.8 billion in eight months, accounting for only 40 per cent of the total allocation.
It will take years and years to bring the projects back on track, if at all we are able to make funds available but by the time their objectives would become irrelevant, the official said.
Practically, no road project or higher education project is in progress across the country, the official said. Funds were allocated in the 2010-11 budget for 99 projects in the communication sector mostly roads, highways and bridges, but none of them could get even a single rupee from the ministry of finance.
Thousands of small development schemes under the Peoples Works Programme for which Rs30 billion had been allocated also did not get even a single rupee in eight months.
The latest update of the Planning Commission suggests that allocations for infrastructure development have been curtailed drastically by 41 per cent to Rs63 billion. Actual releases have so far stood at Rs36 billion, just 34.5 per cent of the original allocations. Social sector allocations that stood at Rs128 billion in the federal budget have been brought down to Rs84 billion, a cut of 34 per cent.
Other sectors could get only Rs2.1 billion in eight months, against an annual allocation of Rs8 billion that had been brought down to Rs3 billion in the revised PSDP.
805 uplift projects come to a halt | Newspaper | DAWN.COM
/***********************************************
805 uplift projects come to a halt
By Khaleeq Kiani | From the Newspaper
March 15/2011
Another 557 projects have been provided up to a maximum of Rs5 million during the first eight months of the current year.
ISLAMABAD: More than 805 development projects of the current years development programme, mostly in the road construction, education and power sectors, have come to a complete halt because of a 40 per cent financial cut imposed by the federal government.
Another 557 projects have been provided up to a maximum of Rs5 million during the first eight months of the current year, suggesting that a total of 1,362 projects are non-starters because most of the payments have been made against their previous expenditures, informed sources told Dawn.
Anyone can notice contractors moving their machinery and equipment from the development schemes or leaving their contracts unfinished. Many of them are even short of funds to purchase petrol and diesel to move machinery and equipment to a safe place, a top Planning Commission official confirmed.
The government had allocated Rs242 billion in local currency for the Public Sector Development Programme that was cut down to Rs150 billion by diverting about Rs92 billion for deficit financing, according to latest update of the Planning Commission. Total releases for PSDP schemes have been to meagre Rs96.8 billion in eight months, accounting for only 40 per cent of the total allocation.
It will take years and years to bring the projects back on track, if at all we are able to make funds available but by the time their objectives would become irrelevant, the official said.
Practically, no road project or higher education project is in progress across the country, the official said. Funds were allocated in the 2010-11 budget for 99 projects in the communication sector mostly roads, highways and bridges, but none of them could get even a single rupee from the ministry of finance.
Thousands of small development schemes under the Peoples Works Programme for which Rs30 billion had been allocated also did not get even a single rupee in eight months.
The latest update of the Planning Commission suggests that allocations for infrastructure development have been curtailed drastically by 41 per cent to Rs63 billion. Actual releases have so far stood at Rs36 billion, just 34.5 per cent of the original allocations. Social sector allocations that stood at Rs128 billion in the federal budget have been brought down to Rs84 billion, a cut of 34 per cent.
Other sectors could get only Rs2.1 billion in eight months, against an annual allocation of Rs8 billion that had been brought down to Rs3 billion in the revised PSDP.
