Ministry accused of improper practices: Delay in projects
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Sept 15: Two cabinet ministers on Wednesday held the finance ministry responsible for improper financial practices which they said caused delayed release of funds thus hampering the timely execution of developmental projects.
Replying to questions of Senator Anwer Bhinder during the Question Hour, Education Minister Lt-Gen (retired) Javed Ashraf Qazi tried to explain the reasons why his ministry did not utilize all the released funds during 2003-04.
He said the finance ministry had released the last tranche at the time of stock-taking in June. Moreover, the finance ministry released funds on quarterly basis not leaving enough time for the ministries to utilize the funds.
"It is a wrong practice. The financial system of releases needs to be improved," he said. Mr Qazi said in the mid term review, the allocations for the ministry were cut but despite that the education ministry managed to spend maximum amount from the released funds.
Senator Anwer Bhinder from the treasury benches said it created a wrong impression about the government if the funds were available but were not spent in time. "The funds should not lapse," he said.
He said due to non-utilization of the released funds, the entire budget became unrepresentative. On the one hand, the ministries complained about lack of funds for developmental activities while on the other, funds lapsed due to non- utilization, he added.
Minister for Local Government and Rural Development Senator Abdul Razzaq Thahim also blamed the "complicated monetary system" when he came under fire from the treasury and opposition senators who challenged the figures he gave about utilization of Rs3699.98 million meant for development schemes of the parliamentarians.
"The monetary system is a bit complicated. We would look into it to remove any discrepancy," he said. Earlier, Senator Pari Gul Agha from the treasury questioned the utilization of funds when no projects had been implemented.
Amidst thumping of desks by the opposition, Senator Agha said the minister should not make wrong statements in the house. "No funds for the senators have been released and the members of the provincial assemblies who voted for us are angry," she said while challenging the figures given by the minister of sate.
Senator Dr Safdar Abbassi from the opposition also supported the contention of Ms Agha and said not a single scheme existed on the ground. If the funds have been utilized, the schemes should be on the ground, he said.
In the written reply, the minister for local government and rural development said Rs3,700 million were allocated for the Tameer-i-Pakistan Programme and Rs3699.98 million had been utilized.
An opposition senator said the government had asked the parliamentarians to submit development schemes in March. "Within a week we provided details of developmental projects worth Rs10 million," said Senator Liaquat Bangalzai.
He said when enquiries were made in August, it was found that some files were untraceable. The minister assured the senators that their cases were being processed and the release of funds was underway.
When Senator Anwer Bhinder questioned the non-utilization of the entire allocation of Rs45 million by the ministry of labour, manpower and overseas Pakistanis, Minister of State Tariq Azeem said the relevant organization could not buy the desired equipment despite advertising for the same on three different occasions.
When Senator Bhinder asked if one year's time was not sufficient to do the work, Senator Azeem said the equipment was not available. Federal Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights Wasi Zafar did not submit a reply to a question by Senator Sanaullah Baloch who had asked the date on which the Land Reforms (Balochistan Pat Feeder) Canal Regulation 1972 was made part of the sixth schedule and if the government was considering any proposal to repeal it.
Leader of the House Senator Wasim Sajjad said the first part of the question was clearly answered in the Constitution while only its second part was proper. When it was pointed out that there was not enough time to answer the question, Senator Baloch said the question was submitted almost a month ago on August 24.
In reply to another question by the senator about legislation done regarding Karo-kari, advisor to the prime minister on women affairs Nilofer Bakhtiar said the government had taken a number of steps to create awareness of the issue.
She said the government's commitment also had the support of President Musharraf. The government has been working on Karo-kari legislation for the last eight to nine months and would soon bring the legislation to eliminate Karo-kari, she added.
