The Senate’s Standing Committee on Underdeveloped Areas held a meeting to discuss the performance of the ministry of Housing and Works and its attached departments in underdeveloped districts and FATA.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Senator Usman Khan Kakar at the Parliament House on Wednesday. According to the data provided by PWD, out of 27 development schemes in Balochistan, not a single scheme was completed in 2014-15. 110 schemes out of 131, and 13 out of 43 were completed in underdeveloped areas of KP and Sindh respectively.
However, when senators expressed concerns regarding the slow pace of work and no attention given to projects in underdeveloped areas, the ministry of Housing and Works told the committee that this data was updated on 30 April and work will be completed by 30 June. The committee expressed anguish over presenting old data to the committee.
The committee was further told that amount for development schemes in Balochistan was released on 14 and 19 June and due to short time left of the fiscal year, work could not be completed. The committee decided to take up the matter of delay in the release of the budget by the finance ministry and to check which department is responsible for the delay.
The committee also questioned the status of National Housing Authority (NHA) and its budget allocation. The committee was told that NHA is an attached department of the ministry and has only a corresponding role for the PM’s low-cost ‘Apna Ghar Scheme’. The committee members were surprised to know that no work has been done on this scheme other than land allocation in some areas of Sindh, KP and Balochistan.
The meeting was attended among others by Senator Mir Kabeer Shahi, Senator Samina Abid, Senator Gianchand, Senator Sarda Musakhel, Senator Jehanzeb Jamaldini and Secretary Housing and Works.