The bureaucrats in Sindh are working overtime these days to window dress a Rs71.70 billion expenditure budget of 2001-02 that supports only 460,000 provincial government employees but does not deliver any service or contribute to improve the quality of life of more than 30 million urban-rural population of the province.

“We are now in surplus” a senior officer of Sindh government remarked when asked to give budgetary position of the province in plain numbers. He claimed that the Sindh has finally cleared the State Bank of Pakistan overdraft account. Besides this, WAPDA has also obtained literally on ‘gun point’ the amount of presumptive electric bills of Rs 2 to Rs 3 billion in the current fiscal year. Officials claim that the Sindh government has cleared all the outstanding presumptive bills of WAPDA amounting to well over Rs 8 billion. “We are now on current billing with WAPDA” he said.

This additional burden has been met despite a shortfall of about Rs 14 billion in Sindh government receipts from Islamabad. The federal budget for 01-02 indicated flow of total Rs 52.86 billion in the current fiscal year. This included Rs 36.89 billion from the federal divisible pool and Rs 15.96 billion direct transfers on account of royalty and surcharge on oil and gas. Officials say that during July 01 to May 02 Sindh has received Rs 24.2 billion from divisible pool and Rs 13.8 billion direct transfer. It shows a shortfall of Rs 14 billion. The Sindh government now expects the last instalment from Islamabad amounting to Rs 4 to Rs 5 billion. It means that total shortfall in actual receipts and federal budgetary figures come to Rs 9 to Rs 10 billion.

The Sindh budget showed a revenue expenditure of Rs 71.70 billion for the current fiscal year. Bulk of this expenditure, almost 40 per cent goes to salaries and perks of 460,000 workforce of the province. A rise in government employees pay has added Rs 4 billion additional burden in the current fiscal year.

As against this, the total income of Sindh during 2001-02 was indicated at Rs 69.50 billion showing a hole of Rs 2.2 billion at the very outset. Now that Sindh’s receipts are down by Rs 9 to Rs 10 billion and the burden on expenditure should have been increased by about Rs 4 to Rs 5 billion, one wonders how the Sindh government has been able to achieve a surplus in the current fiscal year.

All through the year, there has been no word from any member of the Sindh government on progress on Rs 10.42 billion annual development programme of the province during the current fiscal year. The total development outlay included that actual ADP of Rs 15.75 billion.The Sindh government was expected to generate Rs 5.73 billion from own resources to finance this development programme. Islamabad has stopped providing cash development loans to provinces for last two years. How the Sindh government has been able to provide these development funds remains a mystery. It is a mystery because it has recieved less funds than promised by Islamabad. Assuming that the provincial government has managed to mop up 100 per cent of the projected provincial revenue of about Rs 12 billion there still remains a gap of Rs 4 to Rs 5 billion in the revenue budget. One wonders than how come the Sindh government has been able to finance the development outlay.

Officers claim of improving property tax collection because of changes in the system and a new survey carried out. But drought has become an excuse for the big landlords to escape payment of tax on agricultural income. Drought has not brought about any change in the vulgar lifestyle of any big landlord. “None of them has shifted from Defence or Clifton to Federal B Area” a Sindh minister jokingly remarked before his cousin a big landlord from Shikarpur who complained of bad crops because of water scarcity.

There are doubts if the federal government provided the promised funds for the development schemes. The federal government promised Rs 2.8 billion for Khushhal Pakistan projects. Neither the federal government nor the provincial government has announced the amounts released under this programme and how many people have benefitted from the implmentatation of the schemes.

The September 11 incident in USA brought an end to Sindh government’s love affair with the Information Technology and all programmes and schemes have been given up. But now alternate avenues are being explored.

All the measures and steps taken by the Sindh government outside the budget have apparently proved to be hollow. The Sindh Economic Revival Task Force was set up. A programme for the economic revival of Karachi was announced with much fanfare and an economic development cell was set up.

An Adhoc Public Accounts Committee, a fiscal monitoring committee, a provincial comittee on investment, a provincial dairy board, a provincial social action programme coordination committee were set up.

What have been achieved by all these task forces, committees, and boards is evident from the growing crime rates in both urban and rural areas, rising number of suicides in villages and small towns, and swelling ranks and files of unemployed young men and women in big cities.

The year 2001-02 is proving to be a crucial and decisive year for the Sindh government. The revenue-expenditure budget is going to be a benchmark for the allocation of funds during the next five years. Going by the budget and the additional burden of salary increase, the expenditure should be anywhere from Rs 85 to Rs 90 billion. As a matter of rule, Sindh’s expenditure should increase by 10 per cent every year for next five years. But then the amount of funds received from Islamabad and provincial revemnue generation do not match the expenditure. With a new National Finance Commission award expected any time, the bureaucrats are engaged in a task to show a bulging expenditure budget that can justify allocation of more funds.