24-part board, comprised to screen arrival of assets, incorporates congresspersons from PML-N, PPP, PTI, JUI-F
Wednesday, November 08, 2023
A 24-member steering committee to monitor the release of funds.
The committee includes senators from PML-N, PPP, PTI, JUI-F.
It can also cancel or stop the release of resources for any system.
ISLAMABAD: The incumbent caretaker government led by Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar is set to release Rs 29 billion from development funds for the first time in the country's history, The News reported on Wednesday.
The federal cabinet has also set up a 24-member steering committee — headed by caretaker communications minister Shahid Ashraf Tarar — to monitor and oversee the release of funds, official sources said.
The committee, which includes four caretaker ministers, also includes senators from Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pakistan Peoples Party ( PPP), Awami National Party (ANP), National Party (NP), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and senior officials of respective ministries and divisions.
The previous Shehbaz Sharif-led government earmarked Rs 90 billion for development funds for the fiscal year 2023-2024, of which Rs 61 billion was released in four months.
Sources said the PPP and other parties have raised the issue of non-release of remaining funds for development.
Headed by the Caretaker Communications Minister, the Steering Committee also includes Federal Ministers Sarfraz Bugti, Dr. Nadeem Jan, Madad Ali Sindhi; Senators Danesh Kumar (BAP), Palwasha Khan (PPP), Irfan Siddiqui (PML-N), Mohsin Aziz (PTI), Kamran Murtaza (JUI-F), Syed Faisal Sabswari (MQM-P), Tahir Bazinjo (NP), Arbab Umar Farooq (ANP), Sardar Muhammad Shafiq Tareen (PkMAP) and Federal Secretaries for Finance, Planning and Development, Petroleum, Power, Housing and Development.
The steering committee also includes Punjab Chairman Planning and Development and other secretaries for development of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. It will also have the power to cancel or stop the release of development funds for any scheme.
Interim Information and Broadcasting Minister Murtaza Solangi, when approached to comment on the formation of the steering committee, said it was not within his knowledge.
"I don't know about that," he said simply.
