KHANEWAL, June 9: The Khanewal district government is allegedly violating its own policy by approving development projects for the Citizen Community Boards (CCBs) which could not complete their previous projects, Dawn has learnt.
Sources told Dawn that the district council approved projects worth Rs 4.1 million for various CCBs at a recent meeting without seeking a report on the completion of projects assigned to them previously.
The sources said that Kot Iftikhar CCB (Mauza Sindiawala, Kabirwala tehsil), Sangam CCB (Union Council 38, Kabirwala tehsil), Mauza Bahawalpur CCB (Kabirwala tehsil), Galaxy CCB (Union Council 3, Khanewal teshil) and Taj Mehal CCB (Mauza Nabipur, Kabirwala tehsil) could not complete their previous projects, but they were awarded new projects.
The sources said that Kot Iftikhar, Sangam and Bahawalpur Citizen Community Boards (CCBs) were given Rs 1,560,000 to install milk chillers in their areas, the Galaxy CCB was given Rs 1.5 million to provide furniture for the Government Higher Secondary School in Tulamba and the Taj Mehal CCB was given Rs 1,049,000 to buy an ambulance.
“This is a clear violation of the district government’s own policy and decisions, as district government officials and district nazim and nazib nazim should be very careful while approving projects for the CCBs whose previous projects are incomplete,” a district government official told Dawn on condition of anonymity.
This is happening due to a lack of coordination among union councils, tehsil municipal administrations, the district council and the executive district officers for education, community development, agriculture, works and services and revenue, the official added.
“Any department or council would not have dared to ask the district government’s full house meeting to approve projects for such CCBs if they would have knowledge of the district government’s policy,” the official said.
However, he said that political likes and dislikes were behind such approvals.
The sources said that the Buraq CCB (Village 132/10-R, Jahanian teshil) submitted a project worth Rs 3.4 million to the authorities concerned, which was approved despite the fact that it did not fall in the sectoral classification issued by the district government.
They said the district government was also violating the timeframe mentioned in the CCB rules 2003 regarding applications for projects, their processing, recommendation and final approval.
This violation is delaying completion of projects and affecting their monitoring and evaluation. Several inquiries regarding misappropriations are pending against the CCBs because of their political influence, the sources said.
When Dawn contacted Executive District Officer (EDO) for Community Development Imtiaz Ali Shah for his comment, he didn’t attend his office phone and later switched off his cell phone.
However, District Officer for Community Development/Social Welfare Chaudhry Maqsood Ahmad said that the full house of the district government had the powers to approve or reject any project.
“Anyhow the district government should inform the departments concerned about the CCBs which fail to complete their projects,” he said.
The district government has already decided in principal that the Citizen Community Boards (CCBs), which will not complete their projects, will not get new projects, he added.
