ISLAMABAD: The federal government spent around Rs9 billion on paramilitary Rangers in Sindh during the current fiscal year — while the Sindh government allocated Rs2.44 billion in the provincial budget, including Rs1.69bn as ‘payment for internal security duty allowance’. The interior minister, released on Wednesday, details of operational expenditures on Rangers in Sindh.

It says the federal government paid Rs7.64bn to Rangers in 2013-14, followed by Rs8.51bn in 2014-15.

The budget documents of 2015-16 show that employee-related expenditures of the paramilitary force in Sindh were Rs9bn for the current fiscal year. These include salaries of personnel amounting to Rs3.46bn, with Rs182.37 million of officers and Rs3.28bn of ‘other staff’. Allowances of officers and other staff amounted to Rs5.59bn.

Also read: Federal govt spends Rs9bn annually on Sindh Rangers, asserts Nisar

The other main heads are Rs344m; operating expenditures, Rs40m; pensions, Rs18m; subsidies and grants, Rs174m; IT equipments, furniture, buildings, transport etc, and Rs40.9m; repairs and maintenance.

Pakistan People’s Party Senator Farhat­ullah Babar criticised the minister’s statements.

He said: “On the logic that since the federal government pays salaries of the Rangers it has the right to determine its role is preposterous and perverted logic.”

He said that it was the logic of a colonial mindset, as if saying that since the federation pays for the paramilitary troops it had the right to conquer the federating unit.

“Let me put the record straight. The federal government only pays the salary of the Rangers; but allowances, petrol and other expenses are paid by the provincial government.”

Senator Babar said that at the beginning of the current operation it was decided that half of the operational expenses would be borne by the federal government and the other half by the provincial government.

“The federal government has not paid a single penny to the provincial government thus far,” he said. “Will the interior ministry state how much it has paid to the province under the head of operational expenses? Not a penny indeed.”

But the figures of the interior ministry claimed that the Sindh government paid Rs2.22bn in 2013-14; Rs2.58bn in 2014-15, including ‘payment for internal security duty allowance’.

Out of the provincial expenditures of Rs2.44bn allocated for the current fiscal year, Sindh will pay Rs1.69bn to the Rangers as ‘payment for internal security duty allowance’ that has increased by more than 36 per cent in two years.

Other expenditures by Sindh on the Rangers include Rs700.39m as ‘operating expenditures’, Rs9.40m for ‘physical assets’ and Rs40.13m for repair and maintenance.

Also on Wednesday, Information Minister Senator Pervaiz Rasheed claimed that the federal government would continue to play its role in maintaining political coherence in the country. He said that the federal government would not take any un-democratic step over the current situation.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2015