ISLAMABAD: Corrobora­ting a brewing rift within the PML-N government, Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal hit back at his two cabinet colleagues on Friday, saying scrutiny of development projects was irritating some ministries.

He was responding to recent statements made by Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif and Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi at a seminar that the Planning Commission was “detrimental to national interest” and should be disbanded.

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They had also criticised two energy sector regulators — Nepra and Ogra — and said the Planning Commission should cease to exist as early as possible if the country were to move forward.

Ahsan Iqbal did not name anybody or entity, but explained in a written statement that prudent cost cuts by the Planning Commission in the process of financial evaluation perturbed some ‘brother ministers’. “The Planning Commission has rationalised the amount of PSDP projects to the total cost of Rs490 billion during the last financial year, which is almost equivalent to the total allocation of PSDP amount for a year,” he said.

“Some ministries and divisions feel irritated on close scrutiny of development projects, but this cannot distract the Planning Commission from its responsibility to safeguard the public money and ensure its effective utilisation in development projects,” said Mr Iqbal. “Business as usual is unacceptable in the execution of public sector development programmes due to presence of a professional team in the Planning Commission.”

He said negligence, poor project management and estimates, as well as lack of capacity of some ministries and divisions, caused delays in execution of development projects and cost overruns.

Another senior cabinet member told Dawn that the two energy ministers were in fact pointing towards ‘political problems within the ruling party’ by speaking on professional and technical issues.

“The actual target is the prime minister and the Punjab chief minister, who are taking interest in energy projects associated with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),” he said.

SOURCE OF WORRY: According to him, the energy ministers are worried because they are not being taken into confidence on critical projects, but fingers are being pointed at the planning minister and, at times, at the finance minister because they are the only technocrats in the entire PML-N team.

“This is despite the fact that technical evaluation of energy projects was carried out by two energy ministries or their subordinate entities and only financial appraisal is done by the Planning Commission. Funding arrangements are cleared by the finance ministry,” the cabinet member said.

He said that even the planning minister did not have the lead role in CPEC-related energy projects. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif leads delegations to Beijing, holds negotiations and takes major decisions, with technical input from accompanying Ahsan Iqbal, whose Planning Commission has been declared as ‘focal ministry’ by the prime minister.

“Do you think Mr Iqbal, on his own, can bypass Khawaja Asif, who is a family friend and class-fellow of PM Nawaz Sharif,” the cabinet member asked. Mr Iqbal, he said, was a lonely soul in the kitchen cabinet with a different background and had earned a soft image because of his technical credentials.

“Ahsan Iqbal himself is a victim,” he said without explaining, but asserted that “the target is Nawaz Sharif to rein in the younger Sharif”. It would be advisable for the prime minister to take into confidence the two energy ministers and senior party members, he said.

The planning minister also found it appropriate to give an overview of his performance. He said the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) had considered 322 development projects at 15 meetings between April 2014 and March 2015 and approved 155 projects which were within its authorised limit of Rs3bn or less. The Planning Commission also recommended 66 projects to the Executive Committee of National Economic Council which approved 61 projects at eight meetings during the same period.

Mr Iqbal said the CDWP had approved another 75 projects during 2014-15 with 48 per cent progress. He said it was a commitment of the prime minister to overcome the energy crisis by 2018 and development projects reflected priority to energy sector, infrastructure and knowledge initiatives.

The cost rationalisation process has not only discouraged waste in the public sector but also secured greater value for the public money.

“Public funds, earmarked for development, ought to be spent transparently to create highest value as we are answerable to people,” Mr Iqbal said, adding that the Vision 2025 was a roadmap to growth and development. “The Planning Commission is following the PML-N’s development manifesto in letter and spirit.”

Published in Dawn, October 10th , 2015

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