A number of ministries and divisions have refunded to the finance ministry Tk 628 crore allocated to them under the current Annual Development Programme as they failed to implement efficiently, accurately or to the end the development projects the money was meant to
fund, planning ministry sources told New Age on Monday.
The communications ministry refunded to the public exchequer the highest amount of Tk 92.5 crore, followed by the housing and public works ministry sending back
Tk 86.8 crore, the sources said. The allocation
made for the communications ministry in the original ADP was Tk 4,613 crore and that for the housing and public works ministry Tk 599 crore, they added.
Among the other government agencies, the Election Commission Secretariat paid back Tk 73.47 crore of unutilised development funds, water resources ministry Tk 36.89 crore, industries ministry Tk 55.78 crore, liberation war affairs ministry Tk 10 crore, energy and mineral resources division Tk 16.64 crore, Internal Resource Division Tk 16.8 crore, and expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry Tk 7 crore.
A planning ministry official said, 'Some ministries and divisions have returned Tk 628 crore allocated funds. The main reason for doing this is weak implementation of projects.'
The official said the refunded parts of the allocations would be given to the ministries and divisions that needed additional funds to execute other ADP projects.
'The amount of allocations made to the government bodies will be updated in the revised ADP. The ministry has already set the revised ADP at Tk 35,130 crore, trimming the original Tk 38,000 crore ADP by Tk 2,870 crore,' said another planning ministry official.
Among the government agencies short-listed for receiving additional
development allocations, Power Division will get Tk 400 crore, local government and rural development ministry Tk 30.51 crore, Food Division Tk 15 crore, fisheries and livestock ministry Tk 7.28 crore, and Disaster Management Division Tk 3.37 crore.
The sector-wise allocations in the revised ADP are likely to be approved in the next meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council.
Source: New Age
