Govt adds 70 more unapproved projects for Balochistan

[ahlam1399]

ISLAMABAD: In order to get support of Balochistan National Party (BNP) Mengal, the government made adjustments in development programme funded by Center and inserted over 70 unapproved projects without seeking prior approval of National Economic Council (NEC).These over 70 projects include water and power as well as for construction of roads for certain parts of the Balochistan. Without changing overall size of federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) of Rs701 billion for 2019-20, the government after presenting budget before the Parliament has made changes in the PSDP and published new PSDP book after insertion of over 70 unapproved projects for certain districts of Balochistan just ahead of approval of the budget. The Parliament is likely to approve the budget 2019-20 anytime this week.All these changes were made into PSDP for 2019-20 without getting approval of National Economic Council (NEC). The official quarters believe that the NEC is recommending body and the Parliament is going to approve the federal development budget 2019-20 including fresh PSDP.When contacted to Secretary Planning Division Zafar Hasan on Thursday and inquired about reasons for publishing new PSDP book as new projects for Balochistan made part of it and why it was done without seeking prior approval of NEC, in a written reply he stated that while approving PSDP the NEC authorised Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms (PDR) to make changes in the PSDP while remaining within the overall size of the PSDP. Under the authority granted to PDR by the NEC the changes have been made in the PSDP. The NEC would be informed in the second meeting of the year. It may be mentioned that two meetings of the NEC in a year may be held as per constitutional requirement, he added. When another official of Planning Ministry was asked about reasons for inclusion of only Balochistan projects, they said that the province lagged behind on development front so the Center took decision to include more projects into part of the PSDP.However, the new PSDP book shows that the government has slashed down allocation of Planning Ministry to Rs6.713 billion for 2019-20 against earlier allocated amount of Rs7.963 billion. The allocation of National Highway Authority (NHA) also reduced from Rs155.968 billion to Rs154.968 billion. “After slashing down allocations from these heads, the government allocated Rs2 billion for inclusion of around 70 projects for Balochistan against total cost of projects to the tune of Rs9 billion,” said the official.The new published version of PSDP for 2019-20 showed that the federal government inserted 28 unapproved projects of Power Division related to Balochistan as the government allocated Rs9 million for 11KV Line Room from Dalbandan to Killi Haji Mir Azeem Sargasha District Chagai, Rs30 million for 33KV Grid Station for Kashangi District Nushki, Rs50 million for 33KV Grid Station for Tootozai District Kharan, Rs90 million for construction of 132KV Grid Station in Kapoto area District Kalat, Rs150 million for construction of 132KV Grid Station in Omach District Khuzdar, Rs600 million for construction of 132KV Mashkay Quetta Electric Supply Company, Rs25 million for construction of 33KV Grid Station in Ghurak area Nail District Khuzdar, Rs20 million for construction of grid station 33KV Hazarganji Quetta, Rs90 million for consultancy services for feasibility study water pumping in Balochistan area, Rs27.350 million for conversion of LT lines into ABC works in Khuzdar city, Rs100 million for distributed generation schemes, Rs70 million for establishment of new distribution lines for electrification in villages of Khuzdar, Rs45 million for grid station at Ahmedwai 33KV District Nusuki, Rs20 million for installation of 1500 units solar energy for Aamari District Chaghai, Rs20 million for installation of 1500 units solar energy in district Nushuki, Rs20 million for off grid merged district of Balochistan, Rs80 million for provision of 2000 homes solar kits for NA-268, Rs17 million for provision of 50KV transformers and 20 poles for NA-268, Rs4 million for provision of 50KV transformers for district Chaghai, Rs14 million for provision of 50KV transformers in district Chaghi, Rs1210 million for supply of utilities to Special Economic Zones and Rs30 million for village electrification in NA-266.Around 40 projects of water sector have been made part of the PSDP for the next fiscal year. The government also earmarked funds for construction of roads under the jurisdiction of Finance Ministry.The sources said that the Center allocated more than Rs78 billion for development schemes of Balochistan as they allocated Rs30 billion for new development projects. It is recommended to ensure effective monitoring of development projects funded by both the federal and provincial government in the far flung areas of the province as each and every penny utilised in the province could bring a sigh of relief for neglected parts of Balochistan.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/-zocQeuXykA

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