KARACHI: Expressing concern over release of funds for schemes launched without the approval of schedule of new expenditures (SNEs), the Sindh High Court has sought report from the provincial government to explain if such projects were launched to ‘siphon public money’.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro directed a committee, comprising various secretaries of different departments, to examine this aspect and submit a detailed report with descriptions of these schemes and the causes thereof as well as to determine whether such schemes were created and launched to siphon funds from the public exchequer.

In the light of a previous court order, the committee comprising secretaries of planning & development and works & service departments as well as the special secretary of health department, filed compliance reports regarding details of public schemes.

The bench said these reports reflected that 5,608 public schemes of around 35 departments had been completed during last 15 years out of which 4,593 schemes did not require approval of SNEs while in 863 schemes SNEs had been approved and in 152 schemes SNEs were required to be approved.

The head of the committee requested the court that at the first instance, the committee may be tasked to work out the SNEs on provincial level and in second phase it would carry out the schemes initiated from district-wise budget.

Over 4,500 projects out of around 5,600 completed during last 15 years, did not require approval of SNEs, court told

The bench allowed the same and also ordered that since SNEs had not been approved yet in 152 schemes, the same must be approved within a month.

“It is alarming that such a large number of schemes have been completed which, according to the chart submitted by the committee, do not require approval of SNEs, meaning thereby that the main focus of the government is only to initiate projects which are not institution-based. Therefore, the committee shall examine this aspect and submit a detailed report with descriptions of these schemes and the causes thereof, as well as determine whether these schemes were created or launched to siphon funds from the public exchequer,” it added.

The bench also noted that as per committee’s report, some of the departments had not provided the required data and therefore, the secretaries concerned must provide such details to the committee before the next hearing.

The committee in its report has also highlighted the causes and technical hurdles behind the delays in SNEs approval as well as the recommendations in this regard, however the secretaries of departments concerned, whose SNEs have not been approved, must also submit their detailed reports to this effect, it added.

The bench further said that earlier, the secretary of works and services department was directed to submit comprehensive details of all public projects, including high and higher secondary schools and livestock buildings and other schemes which had been completed but the SNEs had not yet been approved and an explanation was also sought for such delay in approval.

The compliance report filed by the secretary indicated that 2,390 schemes of road sector and eight schemes of building sector had been completed during last 15 years wherein no SNE was required, but list of those schemes was not attached with the compliance report, it noted and directed the secretary of works & services department to place on record the list of such schemes by Nov 30.

The special secretary of health in a statement asserted that 184 schemes were initiated by the department since 2009-10 and 177 of them had been completed as SNEs related to 77 were sanctioned whereas for 73 schemes approval of SNEs was not required while 20 schemes were operationalised by the Sindh Institute of Child Health and Neonatology, Sindh Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, Sindh Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, SIUT and KMC whereas seven schemes required Schedule of New Expenditure/PC-IV and as many schemes had been dropped.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2024