Treasury, opposition MPAs slam lack of uplift

Karachi
Both the treasury and opposition lawmakers during the provincial assembly sitting on Monday lamented the insufficient release of funds allocated under the development budget in the ongoing financial year and the lesser spending on uplift projects than the actual money reserved for them.
They legislators were taking part in the first general debate on the provincial government’s quarterly fiscal report – from January to March - and the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2015-16.
The lawmakers demanded that the provincial government should audit the fiscal affairs of the food department and also hold an inquiry into the Sindh Board of Investment’s recent claim that it had spent over Rs2 billion on development works.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement parliamentary leader Syed Sardar Ahmed gave credit to the ruling Pakistan People’s Party for presenting fiscal reports on a quarterly basis and also holding a discussion on the proposals for the preparation of the next budget.
However, he added that the discussion on the budget should have taken place in February or March.
Ahmed said it would be difficult for the provincial government to meet its expenses as in the nine months of the current financial year so far, it had received less than its due share of funds from the Centre and was also unable to meet its revenue generation targets.
He said it was a flaw in the system and the procedure of governance that funds released by the government could not be spent on development works.
He said in the ongoing financial year, Rs168 billion had been allocated under the annual development programme. Of this amount, he added, Rs68 billion had been released but only Rs52 billion could be spent on uplift projects.
The MQM parliamentary leader said it was alarming to see that in the first nine months of the current financial year, the provincial government had spent Rs48 billion in subsidies, grants and waiving of debts and the finance department had alone spent Rs38 billion of this amount.

Funds for Karachi
Ahmed said of the Rs6.50 billion allocated for the development of Karachi, only Rs1.10 billion was released, of which Rs550 million was spent on Lyari alone and the remaining similar amount on the rest of the city.
He pointed out that the city’s projects that could not be completed because of insufficient release of funds included the K-IV Greater Water Supply Scheme, S-III Karachi drainage scheme, the Lyari Expressway and the upgrading of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board’s pumping stations.
“If the pumping stations had been upgraded, Karachi wouldn’t have been facing the ongoing water crisis,” he added.
He said the fiscal affairs of the food department needed to be thoroughly audited as it had taken loans from different banks to the tune of around Rs83 billion on which the provincial department was also required to pay interest.
Mehtab Akbar Rashdi, an opposition lawmaker of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, said it was an alarming issue that during the current fiscal year, only 67 percent of the funds allocated for development works could be released while only 35 percent was actually spent.
“In certain provincial departments, the development expenditure cannot exceed 20 percent. How can Sindh progress then?” she asked.
Rashdi said the state of education in Sindh was worsening with primary students dropping out of schools at an alarming rate.
She added that the education department had only been able to spend Rs5 billion of the funds allocated to it for development schemes.
Besides, she observed, there were question marks over the transparency of the manner in which these funds were spent.
Similarly, she said, the health sector was also worsening.
Sardar Ali Ahmed Pitafi, an MPA of the ruling PPP, said funds had not been released for the proposed and ongoing development schemes in his native district, Ghotki.
He alleged that whatever funds had been released for development works had been misappropriated.
He too demanded that that the financial affairs of the food department should be audited as instead of paying of interest on the loans it had taken from banks, it should be giving financial subsidies to needy farmers.
Syed Hafeezuddin, a lawmaker of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, said the ratio of the provincial government’s sales tax on services was very high as it had added additional cost on operational expenses being incurred on running businesses in the province.
“The provincial government should revise down its sales tax on services and also review its tax rates on agricultural income,” he added.
Mir Hayat Talpur, a PPP lawmaker, said the progress on development schemes was very slow and the Badin district was in dire need of funds for building new roads and repairing the existing ones.

Next budget
Finance minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, in his opening remarks in pre-budget discussion, said the suggestions of the lawmakers on fiscal matters would be incorporated in upcoming budget.
He said the provincial government had devised a fresh strategy for development in the upcoming financial year for which the lawmakers should give valid and practicable suggestions.
“For the upcoming fiscal year, such development schemes will be proposed that can be completed with the available financial resources,” he added.
“For instance, the province will need new power generation projects having a capacity of 5,000MW, but the government cannot launch them as it can’t arrange $5 billion needed for them.”
The minister said the provincial governments of the past with their unrealistic approach had envisaged many new development schemes and funds could not be properly allocated for them in the preceding financial years.
Registration of FIR: The PML-F lawmakers agitated against the registration of an FIR in Sanghar against the son of party leader Jam Madad Ali, who was de-notified as member of provincial assembly by an election tribunal earlier this year.
They insisted that the registration of the FIR was a case of political victimisation and the chief minister, who held the additional portfolio of the home department, should take notice of the incident.
Information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said the FIR had been registered against the PML-F leader’s son because of his alleged involvement in firing at a wedding and he would also look into the matter.

Resolution for promotions
Before the provincial assembly’s proceedings were adjourned till Tuesday (today), the House adopted a resolution to support the case of the province’s senior civil servants who were allegedly denied promotion to senior grades because of a “discriminatory” policy against the bureaucrats of a smaller province.
The resolution was moved by Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, a PPP lawmaker, while it contained signatures of legislators of both treasury and opposition MPAs.