A report issued by the Economic Affair Division of the Finance Ministry has claimed that negligence of the bureaucracy in launching power projects in time have cost the national exchequer $21 million. The report says that the world organisations had allocated $16 billion to launch power projects and improve the electricity transmission system in Pakistan, but the government has failed to utilize this money within the stipulated times. As a result, the taxpayers will have to pay a penalty and even China will be paid $15 million as commitment fees. The government had devised 34 projects, in which 24 projects were envisaged during the Asif Ali Zardari government, three during president Mushraraf Regime, and seven during the Nawaz Sharif government. Had the work started on these projects on time, at least 4000 megawatt electricity would have been added to the national grid. On another note, improvement in transmission system would have shed positive impact on the distribution of electricity. The Ministry of Water and Power had signed over half of the projects, but it failed to touch funds worth $9 billion which were allocated for the suggested projects. Another $7 billion dollar are also lying with the banks without any utility, but the nation will have to pay interest on that money. At least 80 percent loan, which was approved to improve the transmission and distribution system, could not be used.
The Asian Development Bank had allocated $1.3 billion to install smart electricity meters but the officials could not complete even the PC-1 of the project. Now the talks with the Manila-based bank have limited to technical modalities of the project. The bank had also allocated $2.4 billion, but 86 percent of the funds could not be spent. Even one percent of the funds, which were provided by the European Union, could not be utilized. There is a lack of coordination between the government departments or the bureaucratic machinery is incapable of taking right decision at the right time is a big question. The world is changing fast and new methods are being adopted to multiply economic growth, but in Pakistan the same old methods are preferred which had failed time and again in the past. The red tape, which is the legacy of the colonial era still prevails and so is the attitude of the government officials toward their official responsibilities. Most of the bureaucrats lack dynamism, energy and strength to take a decision on their own. Instead, they try to find a shoulder during the whole of their service period to put their gun and shoot.
