The Finance Ministry has failed to provide funds to the Interior Ministry for implementation of National Action Plan (NAP) in spite of the passage of one month after the plan was approved by All Parties Conference (APC), it is learnt. The Ministry of Interior reportedly forwarded a proposal to the Finance Ministry seeking release of Rs 2 billion for implementation of NAP.
A Finance Ministry official confirmed that a summary has been received from the Secretary Interior for provision of funds. Since then, he said a couple of meetings have also been held between senior officials of finance and interior ministries but things have yet to materialise.
An official of expenditure department of the Ministry of Finance on condition of anonymity said he was not aware of the release of funds for NAP and added that funds are being released on a regular basis for ongoing Zarb-e-Azb operation against terrorists. He said the Finance Ministry officials are deputed in each ministry with the responsibility to sanction the budgeted as well as additional funds. The Financial Advisors (FAs) subsequent to approval forward it to Accountant General of Pakistan (AGP) for release of funds.
A senior official said the entire Rs 100 billion required for implementing NAP as per the estimate of an expert committee would not be required in one year and funds would be provided to various departments involved in the implementation according to their requirements. He added that there are contingency heads in the budget to deal with unforeseen expenditure and funds can be diverted for NAP from this source. Rupees 92 million were budgeted for National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) in the current fiscal year against Rs 95 million for 2013-14. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar during a recent press conference had stated that the government would adjust development and social sector allocations to make funds available to meet the security requirement.