Project-implementation rate this fiscal looks a bit better than the covid-ridden last financial year's but the public agencies lag far behind the pre-pandemic marks, insiders say, largely as one vital sector wobbles.
A perpetual foot-dragging pace of the health ministry in implementing the development projects pulled down the average performance rates of all the ministries and agencies during July-to-January period of the current fiscal year (FY), 2021-22, according to Planning Commission officials.
Government ministries and agencies altogether executed 30.21 per cent of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) during the first seven months (July 2021 to Jan 2022) of the current FY2022, official statistics show.
In the same period last FY2021, the government agencies had implemented 28.45 per cent of the ADP, an Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) report shows.
Meanwhile, the government ministries, divisions and agencies executed 32.07 per cent of the ADP in FY2020, 34.43 per cent in FY2019 and 33.35 per cent in FY2018 during the corresponding period.
According to the IMED, the government agencies spent Tk 715.33 billion, 30.21 per cent of the total Tk 2.36 trillion ADP, during the period under consideration (July-January of FY2022).
The heath division under the ministry of health had even failed to execute half the average aggregate project-implementation rate (30.21 per cent).
Health division, a pivotal agency during the coronavirus pandemic, had executed only 13.18 per cent of its Tk 130 billion outlay during the July-January period.
Also on the worst list is the shipping ministry with only 14.46 per cent of its Tk70.01-billion allocations in the ADP spent on development works during the time.
A senior IMED official says the agencies failed to pick up pace in their project execution during the first seven months of the current fiscal although the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the project works was "very minimal".
"It's unfortunate that the Health Division has been failing to implement its development budget when the country is struggling in providing proper health services," he adds.
Lack of better treatment and hospital facilities in Bangladesh is claiming thousands of lives every year. Many well-off people go abroad for getting treatment and spend millions of US dollars over there.
According to the IMED, the Bridges Division is also no exception in sluggish performance, as it has spent only Tk 19.74 billion or 19.91 per cent of its Tk 99.14 billion worth of outlay in the development budget.
Meanwhile, the 14th-largest development budget holder - the industry ministry-had performed best in the July-January period with the implementation rate of 62.75 per cent of its development works.
The Ministry of Housing and Public Works, which holds the 12th-largest development budget, secured the second position in terms of project implementation as it executed 39.84 per cent of the development works, followed by the Railways Ministry with its 36.10 per cent and the water resources ministry with its 34.48 per cent.
The IMED official says they have visited the project sites for monitoring the ongoing development works across the country every month in a bid to nudge the project execution into right gear.
"But the government agencies had completed only 30.21 per cent of the ADP, which is unexpected. In the remaining five months the government agencies have to execute 70 per cent of the project works."
Last-moment quick execution trend will ultimately affect the quality of the development works, he notes, in tune with long-running criticisms of such practice of splurge of public money posthaste to make up for the lost time and target.
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