ISLAMABAD: People from Rawalpindi, the constituency from where Raja Pervez Ashraf was elected to the National Assembly, must be happy at their luck because the sudden elevation of the PPP leader from the area to the post of prime minister has led to a major boost in development projects in their area.
On the directives of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, the Planning Commission headed by its Deputy Chairman Dr Nadeem-ul-Haque called a special meeting of the Central Development Working Party in the first week of this month to clear three projects of Rs7.626bn although none of them was part of the Public Sector Development Programme approved by parliament only three months ago.
And work on the three projects was undertaken soon after Raja Pervez Ashraf had taken oath of office even before the technical scrutiny’s formal approval.
Informed sources said the government’s machinery mostly from Public Works Department had been working on the ground for more than two months to execute the projects.
A major portion of the required funding, in some cases up to 100 percent, was released up front even though these are legally required to be approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council.
The up front payments will ensure completion of the projects before the next elections.
Among the approved projects is the Rs2.676bn dualisation of 64km Mandra to Chakwal Road, for which more than 78 percent of the cost or Rs2.1bn has already been released.
A Rs3.3bn project, for dualisation of 70km Sohawa to Chakwal Road, was also recommended by the CDWP for approval by Ecnec. An advance payment of Rs350m has so far been made, according to the Planning Commission’s website.
Besides, 33 miscellaneous development schemes specifically for NA-51 in various union councils of Gujar Khan were put together with a total cost of Rs1.650bn under directives of the Prime Minister’s Secretariat and approved by the CDWP in its special meeting on Sept 7, according to various directives.
The entire project funding, that is Rs1.65bn, has already been released. Under the Planning Commission’s officially announced mechanism, executing agencies and ministries are required to spend 20 percent funds each in the first and second quarters of a financial year followed by 25 percent in the third and 35 percent in last quarter of a financial year.
In addition to these projects, separate top priority directives issued from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat on July 27 directed relevant authorities to release funds within a week while a common directive covering about a dozen schemes was issued on Sept 3. The total cost of these schemes was estimated at about Rs1bn.
Dr Haque of the Planning Commission declined to comment on the issue. The commission’s spokesperson and head of public investment authorisation section Ishfaqullah Khan, however, confirmed that the CDWP had cleared two major road sector projects (worth Rs5.98bn) for approval by Ecnec and approved for implementation other projects having lower implementation cost.
Internews
