The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has once again failed to utilise its development funds for the uplift of the province as only 27 per cent of the total development budget has been spent during the first 9 months of the current fiscal year raising the possibility of a major chunk of the funds being lapsed.
Of the total annual development budget of Rs 174.9 billions, the Finance Department has released Rs 84.3 billion but the provincial government has only utilised Rs 48.6 billion or 27 per cent of the total budget for Annual Developmental Programme (ADP).
This is the third consecutive year that the KP government has failed to spend its development budget and a major portion of the funds could once again lapse.
KP Finance Minister Muzaffar Said when asked about the low consumption of development funds by the provincial government said, “We will utilise over 70 per cent of the developmental funds by the end of the fiscal year.”
Documents available with Pakistan Today paint a dismal picture of some of the departments including Labour, Mining, Food, Environment, Transport, Housing and Excise and Taxation, which have spent less than six per cent of their estimated budget.
The Labour department has spent a mere 0.43 per cent (Rs 0.3 million) of its total budget of Rs 74 million. The ministry is headed by Anisazeb Tahirkheli of the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP).
Similarly, Mines and Minerals department which is also headed by a QWP lawmaker has spent Rs 40 million out of the total budget of Rs 626 million.
The provincial government had allocated Rs 234 million in its annual budget for the Transport Department. The documents, however, show that it only utilised Rs 6.7 million, a mere 2.9 per cent of the total budget.
The KP Environment Department has only spent Rs 1 million out of the total budget of Rs 57 million.
The Food Department has used only 2.6 per cent (Rs 13 million) of its budget of Rs 501 million.
The Excise and Taxation department’s budget was Rs 406 million, but the department has only used Rs 23 million or 5.7 per cent of the budget.
The government earmarked Rs 956 million for the Housing Department but it has only spent Rs 58 million (6.08 per cent), most of which was spent on feasibility reports.
The province has seen many disasters including a flood in Chitral and an earthquake in many parts of the province. The government had allocated Rs 2 billion for relief and rehabilitation, but the provincial government only spent Rs 103 million or 5 per cent of the total amount.
The industrial sector which had been devastated in the province because of terrorism and power shortages was also not high on the provincial government’s list of priorities. The KP government utlised 11 per cent or Rs 505 million of the total budget of Rs 4.5 billion.
The government has been claiming credit for introducing revolutionary reforms in the health sector and for allocating Rs 12.4 billion for the purpose. However, it used up Rs 2.1 billion or a mere 17.1 per cent of the funds.
The government has consumed only 30.54 per cent or Rs 4.8 billion of the total funds of Rs 15.9 billion allocated for education.
The Home Department spent Rs 642 million out of Rs 6.3 billion, Science and Technology spent Rs 134 million of the total budget of Rs 1.08 billion, Population Welfare used Rs 26.7 million out of Rs 349 million, the Finance Ministry utilised Rs 1.08 billion of the total allocated budget of Rs 6.06 billion, Social Welfare Department spent Rs 95.5 million out of Rs 526 million while Board of Revenue utilised Rs 161 million out of its budget of Rs 1.1 billion.
Some of the departments which have consumed the highest percentage of funds from their allocated budget include Forestry, Agriculture, Sports, Tourism and Archives and Roads. The Forestry department utilised Rs 937 million out of Rs 1.2 billion, the Agriculture department used 44 per cent or Rs1.08 billion of the total Rs 2.4 billion budget, the Sport, Tourism and Archives spent Rs 614 million out of Rs 1.3 billion, while Rs 8.2 billion, or 43.27 per cent of the total funds allocated for Roads (Rs 19 billion) have been utilised.
The Higher Education Department utilized 32.39 per cent or Rs 2.02 billion of the total budget of Rs 6.2 billion, Power and Energy Department utilized Rs 1.5 billion (38.23 per cent) out of Rs 3.7 billion, Hajj and Auqaf spent Rs 79.3 million (35.74 per cent) of the total Rs 222 million, Law and Justice utilised 36.30 per cent (Rs435 million) out of total Rs 1.1 billion, Rs 2.3 billion have been spent of the total allocated budget of Rs 7.3 billion Drinking Water and Sanitation while the Information Department utilised Rs 55.9 million (24.96 per cent) out of its total budget of Rs 224 million.
The KP government allocated Rs 18.2 billion for Local Government department but utilised only Rs 4.5 billion or 24 per cent of the total budget. It allocated Rs 13.5 billion for Multi-Sectorial Development, but used only 6.6 per cent or Rs 907 million.
The Irrigation department utilized 46 per cent or Rs 3.1 billion out of the total budget of Rs 6.8 billion, while the amount allocated under the head of Building totaled Rs 1.2 billion but only Rs 410 million or 32 percent have been utilised.
The budget allocated under the head of District ADP was Rs 30.2 billion but it has only utilised Rs 8 billion, or 26.5 per cent of the total amount.
In February, it was revealed that Rs60 billion allocated for KP under the PSDP lapsed between 2005 and 2015. The province’s cumulative share in the PSDP for the period totaled Rs 552 billion but the federal government’s releases came to Rs 255 billion only, taking the amount of the deficit to Rs 247 billion. The PSDP expenditure in the province from 2005 and 2015 totaled Rs195 billion.
Why do funds “lapse”?
If a provincial govt is responsible and careful in the public money it spends, it should go to its credit. In other provinces we have MNAs and MPAs desperately eating public funds, i guess they have better “utilisation” and will continue to recieve the full amount each year.
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