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Govt depts seek restoration of slashed admin budget

ASIF FAROOQI

ISLAMABAD: Government departments have sought revision of a proposed 50 percent cut in the administrative expenditures making it clear that it may create severe problems if not done away with immediately.

The finance ministry, following a cabinet decision last year for exercising austerity in the government offices, had directed all the federal government ministries, departments, autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies to cut down the administrative expenditure by 50 percent.

Sources in the federal secretariat have confirmed to the Business Recorder that most of the government departments have demanded restoration of their slashed administrative budget.

"We have been facing severe financial pressure during this one year since the administrative budget was slashed," the officials said.

They argued that most of the government departments were unable to pay their utility bills during the last financial year. "This is the main reason why electricity department (Wadpa) and telephone industry (PTCL) have billions of rupees of unpaid dues," the sources said, and added that raise in the utility tariff and cut in the administrative expenditures left the government offices with no other option but to hold back payments to Wapda.

Most of the departments were able to deposit only 60 percent of the total payables during the year to avoid disconnection but failed to clear all utility dues.

According to Wapda calculations the government departments owe more than Rs 60 billion in unpaid electricity bills.

Sources said the finance division would have to withdraw its notification issued in April last if the government intended to run the government offices smoothly.

The decision to cut down the expenditures by 50 percent was criticised at the very beginning as the finance ministry was informed that the office administration would be practically crippled by this much cut in the administration budget. The Nawaz Sharif government had turned a deaf ear to the repeated requests by the government departments seeking a review in the decision.

"There are so many other set patterns to observe austerity in the government departments," the officials at the federal secretariat believe.