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Lawmakers feel the pinch of financial crunch
*
Punjab government allocates only Rs 25m each for coalition lawmakers
in upcoming ADP
* Accommodation of 47 unification bloc members also responsible for
reduction
By Anwer Hussain Sumra
LAHORE: The Punjab government has reduced the funding for coalition
lawmakers in the forthcoming annual development programme (ADP) this
year due to the financial crunch facing the government.
The Chief Minister’s Secretariat has informed all coalition
parliamentarians they should submit development schemes worth Rs 25
million or less for the upcoming ADP. The current budget, ending
June 30, allocated Rs 40 million for each parliamentarian, sources
told Daily Times. They said the Rs 15 million cut in discretionary
funds had forced parliamentarians to prioritise the development of
their constituencies.
The sources said the Finance Department, during a pre-budget
meeting, had informed Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif the volume of
the upcoming ADP could not exceed Rs 120 billion due to revenue
collection shortfall in the province. They said the provincial
departments and agencies responsible for collecting revenue from
indigenous sources could collect only 60 percent of the targeted Rs
40.36 billion by the end of the third quarter of the current
financial year. The CM was also informed the Punjab government’s
share from the National Finance Commission would likely be Rs 284
billion, which would only meet the current expenditure calculated at
Rs 300 billion.
Additional burden: After assessing the situation, it was decided to
cut the development budget of the coalition MPAs. The addition of 47
Unification Bloc members has also forced the government to reduce
the individual discretionary funds of its MPAs to facilitate all
coalition parliamentarians, sources added.
An MPA, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the government
usually increased the ADP on an annual basis to fund public welfare
related projects, and the cut in spending was surprising. He said
the government should curtail the current expenditure
(non-development) funds, and promote austerity in government sectors
to save money for the ADP. The cut in funding would reduce the
number of public welfare schemes and adversely impact the poor, he
added.
Daily Times:
Thursday, June 04, 2009
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