PESHAWAR, July 14: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to focus on its ongoing development projects in an effort to complete most of them before culmination of its five-year term, according to sources.

All ongoing approved development schemes, which are due for completion by June 30, 2013, have been released 100 per cent funds under the government’s development fund distribution policy for financial year 2012-13.

The provincial finance department in a July 10, 2012, letter conveyed the government’s new policy to administrative secretaries of all the departments, asking them to take necessary action.

“The government definitely desires to complete most of its ongoing development works before upcoming general elections to improve its public standing,” MPA Israrullah Gandapur told Dawn when contacted.

Opposition MPAs also support the government’s endeavour to complete the ongoing projects before the provincial assembly completes its constitutional term.

“What will happen if the sitting government leaves the ongoing development schemes uncompleted and the next government stops work on them?” Nighat Orakzai, a Pakistan Muslim League-Q MPA said, when approached.

She said hundreds of millions of rupees had been spent on the ongoing works that needed to be completed during this government’s tenure.

Mr Gandapur said that ongoing development projects would make the government’s focus because a majority of these schemes had been initiated under instructions by Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti and provincial ministers, who, he added, would want to complete them before the coming general elections.

The government’s annual development programme for current fiscal involves 375 development schemes that are due for completion by June 30, 2013. Some 304 of them are ongoing schemes. The remaining ‘due for completion’ schemes would be launched and completed during the ongoing financial year, a cursory analysis of the ADP document reveals.

As per the finance department’s July 10, 2012, letter to the line departments, ongoing approved schemes, which are being executed in the snowbound areas of the province, have also been released 100 per cent of the allocated funds even though these projects are not due for completion in the current financial year.

Similarly, the departments have been informed that all other ongoing approved schemes, including ‘umbrella schemes’ that are being executed in the snowbound areas and that are not due for completion in the current financial year have been released 50 per cent of the funds in first week of July, 2012.

The remaining 50 per cent of the funds to these schemes would be released on January 1, 2013, or before in case the department concerned spent full amount of the funds provided to them in July 2012.

In this respect, the department concerned will have to produce a funds’ “utilisation certificate” to get the remaining 50 per cent of the releases.

“The provincial government has got ample financial resources to carry out its development activities on fast track basis,” a senior finance department official said, when approached.

Senior Provincial Minister Rahimdad Khan also told journalists on Friday that the government wanted to divert maximum amount of the development funds to ongoing projects in continuation with its last year’s policy.

“We want to complete the ongoing development projects by March 2013 to help save the next government from any liability as we don’t want to leave behind many uncompleted projects,” Mr Rahimdad said.

Mr Gandapur, however, thinks otherwise. He said the policy was not directed at completing the projects out of the government’s desire to help save the next government. “They are diverting maximum funds to the ongoing schemes because they know that physical work on new projects cannot begin before October 2012 because of the involvement of a tedious planning process,” he added.

Besides, the government, he said, would want to complete most of the ongoing schemes before it had to go to the public for seeking votes in the next elections.

“Had they been sincere with the next government, they would have ended the Benazir Income Support Programme,” Mr Gandapur said.

However, Nighat Orakzai believed that the government’s policy would not help it win the next general election. “Had it been the case, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi would not have lost the last general elections in Punjab where he undertook huge development projects when he was the chief minister,” Ms Orakzai said. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, she added, had failed to deliver to masses and caused ‘increase in corruption,’ undermining its chances to win the next elections.

According to the finance department, the government has decided that new development schemes would be released 50 per cent funds (allocated for the current financial year) ‘only after completion of all codal formalities required for approval from competent forum on case to case basis.’