KARACHI, Dec 19: Sindh’s political leadership and bureaucrats at the provincial and district levels have shown the amazing capacity of utilising more than 92 per cent of the allocated Rs50 billion development funds during the year 2007-08.

“Politicians and bureaucrats in Sindh have shown amazing appetite for absorbing more than Rs43 billion development funds in the year 2007-08, which is said to be the most crises-laden single year,’’ remarked a political and economic analyst, who pointed out that the crises were both of political and economic nature.

“But these did not deter political leadership of three successive governments in one year and bureaucrats to use up all available fund.

“In last seven years from 2002-03 to 2007-08 Sindh invested more than Rs 159 billion development funds. Despite this massive investment of development funds in last seven years that include the highest amount of Rs 50 billion in 2007-08, the province remains backward in terms of children enrolment in primary school,’’ the analyst observed while quoting from various sources.

The Millennium Development Goals report for the year 2006 conspicuously omits any district of Sindh in top ten districts in terms of children enrolment at primary schools. Nine districts are from Punjab and one from NWFP.

Even Karachi, the economic power house of Pakistan, with best education and heath care is the eleventh district in terms of primary school enrolment. Sukkur is said to be at number 30.

More than 7,000 buildings constructed for schools in rural Sindh remain un-used for last several years as local powerful landlords are said to have taken over control and use them as their private parlors or livestock pens. Sindh’s Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq in many statements has spoken about un-used school buildings.

A World Bank report on Sindh was rejected by the provincial government in 2007 because it made scathing observations on governance in Sindh, particularly on development funds allocation and utilisation. An interesting observation of the World Bank is that Sindh has the highest ratio of government employees with population among all the four provinces.

Official figures of budgetary resources allocation, revised estimates and utilisation of development funds to 23 district governments and to the provincial authorities in Sindh during 2006-07 show an impressive utilisation but there is no evidence as yet of any improvement in social or physical infrastructure in any part of the province.

The Sindh budget provided Rs40 billion annual development outlay for the province during 2007-08.

Against this allocation, revised estimate was put at Rs37.94 billion to take up 1,521 development schemes. The province was released Rs36.29 billion and officials report 91.6 per cent utilisation amounting to Rs33.24 billion.

Funds utilisation performance of 23 district governments is far more impressive as they report 94.5 per cent investment of Rs10.10 billion released to them against a budgetary allocation of Rs10 billion in 2007-08. Three district governments reported 100 per cent utilisation of the funds given to them.

Eleven districts reported more than 90 per cent utilisation, four districts more than 85 per cent, one 81 per cent and two more than 77 per cent.

Badin reported the lowest utilisation at 60 per cent while Karachi district given the highest amount of more than Rs2 billion showed more than 90 per cent utilisation of funds.

Senior officials in Sindh have been speaking of engaging independent institutions like Social Policy and Development Centre (SPDC), Applied Economics Research of Karachi University and others to continuously monitor the socio-economic impact of the development projects in the province.

There is also a promise to prepare a comprehensive economic survey of Sindh every year and release it with budget for debate in the provincial assembly.

What baffles observers is the fact that the Pakistan Peoples Party with a radical socio-economic programme does not have a full time finance minister at the federal or at Sindh level.

“In Islamabad the PPP depends on a banker to draw up economic policies and in Sindh it is entirely dependent on bureaucrats because the chief minister has kept this portfolio with himself,’’ the analyst lamented.

This capacity to utilise development funds during 2007-08 is note worthy, because in this year, two governments changed to be replaced by a third one now in power, a political tsunami of unprecedented magnitude hit Pakistan and this province was scene of worst rioting after assassination of Benazir Bhutto on December 27, 2007 and finally a severe economic crisis.