Sloth in implementation is a common complaint against projects under the Annual Development Programme (ADP) at the end of every fiscal year. But this time, it appeared, the projects were not getting anywhere since the very beginning of the current fiscal year. As the reports go, the rate of ADP project execution has been record-low during the first four months of this fiscal year so much so that, to take stock of things, the planning minister asked the top executives of different priority projects why the situation was so bad. Such projects included those under the Roads and Highways division, Railway ministry, Shipping ministry, Power and Energy divisions, etc.
Going by the data provided by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED), during the July-October period of FY(2022-23), only 12.64 per cent of the total ADP project allocation worth Tk.12.56 trillion could be spent. This is lower than the project execution rate over the same period in the previous fiscal year (FY2021-22) at 13.06 per cent. Apart from the usual tardiness, other factors behind this fiscal's lower rate of project implementation included the government's adopting belt-tightening measures against spending on development projects in the face of the economic crunch. The government even stopped funding of projects categorised as least important, while others considered to be more important would get 75 per cent of the allocated fund. The foreign-funded projects, on the other hand, would get the highest priority regarding fund release, it could be further learnt.
As the IMED data show, during the four months of current FY under review, a priority sector like the Bridge Division received the highest allocation, but it could spend only 37 per cent of the fund. But this was in marked contrast with the performance of, for example, the Shipping ministry which could use only a small fraction of its allocation (at 4.54 per cent). The reports of fund use were similar for the ministries and divisions that enjoy highest allocation. Those include the primary and mass education ministry, health services division, science and technology ministry, secondary and higher education directorate and water resources ministry.
As it came out from the planning commission meeting, there are many projects that had been given the go-ahead a long time back, but their implementation was either stalled at a stage or it did not start at all. Even so, the expenditures for those projects continued in the form of the salaries and allowances of the project staffs, office rent, electricity bill and so on. These are obviously an enormous drain on the country's resources. A particular project under the Railway ministry involving procurement of a number of MG (Meter Gauge) diesel locomotives, for instance, has taken more than a decade to make even a start. First, no bidder could be found for the first and second phase of the project. That led to floating of a fresh tender after making some changes in the technical specifications of the project. And, as in most cases, it was the procedural complexity in project implementation that lay behind the lack of progress. The steps taken so far by the Planning ministry to delist non-performing projects is no doubt commendable. Hopefully, the government would hold meetings of implementing agencies often so the ongoing development projects could be executed in time.