The massive underutilisation of development budget speaks volumes of the lax administrative machinery and lethargic political leadership
The octogenarian chief minister of Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, has smugly advised the critics of his government to go for an eyesight test if they were unable to see the development in Sindh.
A leading Sindhi newspaper, daily Kawish, covered his speech on the front page, and on the same page revealed details of massive underutilisation of annual development budget by the provincial government. The provincial Finance Department has also uploaded an annotated document on its website that provides department-wise and scheme-wise details of the budget allocation, disbursement and utilisation during the first nine months of the current financial year 2015-16.
Perhaps the chief minister was ignorant of the dossier available for public information on the official website and, in a fit of vainglory, he made a self-defeating assertion.
The Annual Development Plan (ADP) of Sindh government allocated a sizeable amount of Rs213 billion that included a foreign aid component of Rs27 billion. The provincial government’s own allocation for the ADP was Rs142 billion. The plan allocated this budget against 1762 ongoing and 590 new development schemes. The utilization of budget allocation during first three quarters of the year depicts a dismal picture.
The document is a testimony to the tardy and lax administrative machinery and a lethargic political leadership in Sindh. The document illustrates a murky picture of resource utilisation in the province. According to the data, the Finance Department could barely release 52 per cent of the allocated budget to various departments and agencies. Utilisation was even more pathetic and only 57 per cent of the released amount could be appropriated.
If the utilisation is juxtaposed with allocation, the figure tumbles to a measly less than 30 per cent. In other words, the Sindh government released 52 rupees against every 100 rupees allocated and could spend only 30 rupees against every 100 rupees allocated. The current year is not an exception. Ironically, the utilisation trend of the previous year was equally lamentable. In 2014-15, budgetary releases and utilisation during the first nine months were only 57 per cent and 35 per cent respectively against the allocated amount.
Compared to last year, performance in the current year has remained even more sluggish. Utilisation of the budget in 14 out of 46 departments and agencies could not reach even double digit. The list includes some very important departments such as industries, finance, kachhi abadi, livestock, provincial disaster management authority, social welfare and services and general administration departments.
Some critically important projects were left money starved. For example, a project "establishment of Sindh emergency rescue services (1122)" was allocated Rs390 million but not a single penny was released. Save for a few charity outfits like Edhi Foundation, emergency rescue services are virtually non-existent in the province which is vulnerable to multiple risks of natural and human- induced hazards. Another initiative "disaster preparedness and management project" was allocated Rs108 million but was not found worth releasing a single rupee.
A political party that boasts to be the party of the poor masses brazenly ignored the social sector. Five key departments of social sector namely education, health, population welfare, social welfare and women development could not utilise even a quarter of their allocated resources. Spending in these departments remained embarrassingly low for a party of the masses. Spending of key departments Education (23 per cent), Health (11 per cent), Population Welfare (2 per cent), Social Welfare (2 per cent) and Women Development (21 per cent) derided all haughty claims of the rulers.
In complete contrast, the Irrigation Department received more amount than earmarked and its utilisation of 77 per cent also dwarfed many other departments. The department is infamous for its inefficiency and corruption. Officials of the department have mastered the art of pleasing the ruling aristocracy.
The infrastructure and system of water distribution have been completely ruined. Water pilferage is the most lucrative business in the province. All these competencies explain the reason behind munificence of the Finance Department in releasing funds to the Irrigation Department.
The Works and Services Department is another similar example. The department was fortunate enough to get 73 per cent of the allocation released and was punctilious enough to spend 65 per cent of the released amount. Mysteriously, six departments namely Irrigation, Works & Services, Education, Thar Coal, Energy and Local Development spent 30.6 billion rupees which makes 74 per cent of the total expenditure of Rs41.5 billion. The remaining 41 departments could spend only 11 billion rupees. This indicates a discriminately skewed trend in favour of some departments.
Sindh has a chronic deficit in the vital sectors of human development. Malnutrition is pervasive among women and children and the province has the highest number of malnourished children in the country. The province lacks good quality infrastructure particularly its cities. Heaps of unattended garbage are strewn in squalid streets and sanitation system is defunct in most cities and towns. Reeking pools of stagnant water exude fetid air and a normal shower brings life to a halt. Divisional and district headquarter cities have a scruffy ambience. Road infrastructure is derelict due to poor maintenance and several roads are dotted with frequent potholes.
Municipal authorities’ budgets are systematically siphoned off and the TMAs (Town/Tahsil Municipal Administration) have earned a sobriquet of ATMs. Development budgets are devoured by political and official cronies of the ruling party leadership. Local media and civil society’s remonstrations falls on the deaf ears of government functionaries as the current government has licensed them to plunder public resources with all impunity at their disposal.
Educational indicators of Sindh have fallen to an alarming threshold. According to an official report "Sindh Education Profile 2013-14", school infrastructure is in a shambles. The report discloses that 7,461 schools are shelter-less, 23,000 schools lack drinking water facility, 20,000 schools are without toilet facility and 11,600 need boundary wall.
This sprawling gap of basic infrastructure merits diligent planning and a responsible and effective utilisation of the development budget. The province possesses ignominious record of ghost schools and teachers. All these factors have turned schools into a detested location for students. This has depleted student’s enrolment and has resulted in a precarious trend of school dropout.
Currently only 36 per cent students complete their primary education, which indicates a staggering dropout rate at the primary level. Quality of education is on a nosedive in the province. Despite a state of emergency in the education sector, it is disconcerting that the provincial government could not utilise even a quarter of the allocated resources in nine months. Against an apportioned Rs10 billion, only Rs3.8 billion were released and merely Rs2.3 billion were utilised that makes only 23 per cent of the allocated budget. This apathy is unpardonable for a government that lures poor masses with charming slogans of changing their future.
Health Department is another casualty of the official apathy. The department was able to utilise a pitiable 11 per cent of the allocated budget. Health infrastructure in Sindh is decrepit and the quality of medical services is on a sharp decline. According to an assessment of secondary health facilities in the nine flood-affected districts of Sindh, WHO revealed that only 23 per cent health facilities had a private ward and 81 per cent facilities needed repair of doors and windows. 39 per cent operation theatres were not even cleanly maintained. The report provides mind-boggling details of infrastructure deficiency in these hospitals.
State of the primary health facilities is equally deplorable. Key health indicators of Sindh are distressing. The department deals with lives of millions of people and deserves much higher resource allocation. An indolent and inefficient bureaucracy released only Rs4.5 billion against a budgeted Rs13 billion. Utilisation was further reprehensible that stood at only Rs1.4 billion during nine months. Dozens of schemes have registered zero expenditure.
In a province where children are dying in droves, women do not get reproductive health services and dreaded diseases are ubiquitous, this criminal negligence is inexcusable.
The government announces hundreds of new schemes every year and thinly distributes its resources on ongoing and new schemes. It results in a burgeoning throw-forward of the dumped development projects. This gimmickry is used to gain political mileage at the expense of development dividends to the common citizens. New schemes are piled up to bribe political loyalists by trampling the standards of public sector planning and development.
This year, the government has introduced 590 new schemes and 225 of them remain dumped in papers without spending a single rupee. A professionally -appropriate and merit-based development planning is a vital organ of public sector development. Misplaced priorities and a politically motivated development process is the worst form of perfidy to the people of Sindh.