CM calls for efficient & timely utilisation of funds

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has asked the implementers to ensure efficient and in-time utilisation of the allocated funds in initiating work on the development schemes.

This he said while presiding over midyear review of Annual Development Programme (ADP) 2015-16 at the Civil Secretariat here on Wednesday morning, said a handout.

The provincial ministers and administrative secretaries of various departments attended the meeting.

The participants of the meeting discussed the funds allocated for various development schemes and reviewed the pace of work on the uplift projects.

A number of directives were issued on the occasion to speed up the work on developmental projects.

Additional Chief Secretary Azam Khan and Secretary for Planning and Development Zafar Ali Shah briefed the meeting about the ADP.

The P & D secretary informed the meeting that scope of the current ADP was Rs 175 billion out of which Rs 75.9 billion had been released by December, last year while Rs 48.6 billion were incurred on various uplift schemes during the period.

He elaborated that 1553 schemes were included in the ADP 2015-16 out of which 915 were ongoing while the rest were new ones.

The secretary told the meeting that response to the monitoring and evaluation reports were recorded at 50 per cent.

The P&D secretary added that meetings at different levels had been arranged to ensure utilization of funds allocated for developmental schemes.

Referring to causes of low utilisation, he said that delay in submission of PC-1, identification of sites and release of funds were deterring implementation process.

Similarly, he said, difficulty in selection of consultants in remote areas, prolonged procedure of procurement, frequent changes of sites, weak implementation by the executing departments, etc were making pace of developmental schemes slow.

He suggested to speed up the project implementation process at the Secretaries level and holding up monthly review meetings to gear up work on uplift schemes.

The meeting fixed 55 per cent target for the 3rd quarter while March 15th was declared as cut-off date for surrendering unutilised funds.

The chief minister said delegation of developmental funds to the districts level would not hamper the process of development.

He hoped that district government would utilise allocated funds by the end of current financial year.

Pervez Khattak declared that additional funds would not be provided to the financially weak Tehsil Municipal Administrations. He said such TMAs had been authorised to adjust their expenditures out of their allocated funds.

Taking note of Secretary Information Abid Majeed’s request, the chief minister ordered heads of the departments to convey their achievements to the Information Department forthwith to circulate it for the information of the general public.

The chief minister directed heads of the executing agencies that instead of wasting time in the revision of the schemes, they should initiate work on the project within the allocated funds and continue efforts for additional funds as well.

Pervez Khattak ordered convening of the review meeting soon to discuss development schemes in details.