Up 17 percent on law & order: spending on infrastructure down 36.57 percent

Up 17 percent on law & order: spending on infrastructure down 36.57 percent

ISLAMABAD  (January 16, 2011) : The government's spending on infrastructure development in relation to roads, highways, and bridges declined by 36.57 percent in the first quarter of current fiscal year as compared to corresponding period of last year, while expenditure on law and order shot up by 17.18 percent, according to Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).

Official figures of PRSP, released by the Ministry of Finance for the first quarter of current fiscal year, show a sharp decline infrastructure development spending to Rs 5.536 billion, 36.57 percent down compared to Rs 8.728 billion for the same period of last year.
The expenditure on law and order increased to Rs 34.526 billion in the first quarter of current fiscal year, 17.18 percent up compared to Rs 29.463 billion for the same period of last year. Analysts say that any increase in spending on law and order is a clear indication of the deteriorating law and order and may be one of the reasons for cut in expenses on infrastructure development .

The expenses of federal government on law and order for the period under review went up to Rs 11.234 billion against Rs 9.232 billion for the same period of last year. The expenditure of Punjab government to maintain law and order went up to Rs 12.061 billion for the first quarter as compared to Rs 10.955 billion for the corresponding period of last year.

The spending of Sindh government on law and order increased to Rs 6.124 billion from Rs 5.066 billion for the last year, and Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province to Rs 3.298 billion from Rs 2.592 billion. Balochistan government's expenses on law and order situation rose to Rs 1.771 billion during July-September 2010-11 from Rs 1.618 billion for the same period of last year.

The expenditure on justice administration increased by 29.38 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period of last year. The expenses on justice and administration increased to Rs 3.069 billion during the period under review from Rs 2.372 billion.

The expenditure on education under the PRSP increased to Rs 66.367 billion in the first quarter of current fiscal year from Rs 50.672 billion for the same period of last year. The increase witnessed in the provincial spending may be largely because the subject has been devolved to the provinces after the approval of 18th Constitutional Amendment.

The education expenditure of federal government declined to Rs 7.049 billion in the first quarter as compared to Rs 9.037 billion for the same period of last year. The spending on health also increased during the first quarter of the current fiscal year to Rs 17.237 billion compared to Rs 13.492 billion for the same period of last year.