Islamabad: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is said to have assigned his powers to relevant authorities and departments for approving development projects worth Rs30m in constituencies of parliamentarians.
Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) scheme envisioned during the time of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif was initiated to approve power, gas and infrastructure projects worth Rs30m during 2016-2018.
According to the agreed framework, projects below Rs30m could be approved by concerned authorities and any over Rs30m required the PM’s approval. Due to this, approval and implementation of development schemes was on standby.
In a recent cabinet meeting, changes to the guidelines were made which now will allow projects over Rs30m to be given go-ahead by the relevant authorities and departments.
Incumbent government under the guise of SDG scheme is re-launching schemes envisioned during PPP’S regime. The govt is adamant on completing these projects before 2018 elections under the Rs100b development package.
The minimum cap requirement for power supply schemes has been removed under SDG due to work being carried out on various projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The decision to remove this minimum cap bar was removed after the steering committee responsible for implementation and execution of these schemes recommended amendments to the guidelines.
The minimum cap limitation for power supply schemes was suggested to be lowered to Rs100,000 instead of the original Rs500,000 but the government got rid of the limit altogether.
As per the guidelines, any savings made from these schemes after their conclusion were to be surrendered immediately and no schemes would be financed from such savings.
