MULTAN, Jan 11: The Punjab health department has so far not utilized funds allocated under the annual development programme (ADP) for the ongoing fiscal year.

Sources told this correspondent that the issue surfaced during a recent meeting of the senior officials and administrators of the department. The Punjab health secretary presided.

“This reflects the inefficiency and lack of interest on the part of the health authorities as no development scheme could be started despite the passage of six months of the ongoing fiscal.

“The health authorities have also failed to properly utilize non-development funds. Health institutions in the Punjab have been facing acute shortage of emergency medicines, consumables and other items because no ‘meaningful’ purchases can be made,” sources said.

The health secretary had given March 1, 2002, deadline to all executive district officers (health) in the province to complete procurement of medicines in their respective districts or ‘face consequences’.

Projects like construction of new hospitals, wards, laboratories and purchase of equipment come under the development expenses. Of the Rs8 billion allocated for the health sector in the Punjab, a sum of Rs5 billion is likely to be spent on salaries of about 0.15 million professional and non-professional staff of the health department. The remaining Rs3 billion has been allocated for the commodity and non-commodity development schemes.

Sources said that the health department was only paying the salaries and utility bills in the ongoing fiscal. The funds utilization ratio was reported 2 per cent in the development schemes which could be started in the first half of the ongoing fiscal.