CA asks edn ministry to complete dev project formalities by Dec
Tuesday, 7 August 2007
FE Report
In a bid to avoid traditional time lag, Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed has asked the education ministry to wrap up all procedures for development projects by December, slated for completion in the current fiscal (2007-08).
The directive came Monday at a review meeting of the annual work and procurement plan of the education ministry, held at the Chief Adviser's Office.
The caretaker head has started reviewing the ADP work and procurement plans of the ministries which are considered the largest recipients of ADP allocations.
Ahmed, a former World Bank executive, has also suggested that the performance of a ministry should be evaluated considering its spending in proportion to the original annual development programme (ADP), not the revised one.
"You need to conclude all formalities by December for projects scheduled for completion in the current fiscal," Ahmed was quoted to have told the meeting he chaired.
Ahmed also asked the education ministry officials to conclude advertisement and evaluation process of projects to be completed next year within the third and fourth quarters of the current fiscal (FY08), a source who attended the meeting said.
Stressing on the timely implementation of education projects, Ahmed said these projects should be executed in a faster way, as education-related projects are different from construction-related ones.
Some 66 education projects are included in the current ADP, of which 20 account for 87 per cent of allocations.
Finance and planning adviser Mirza Azizul Islam and education adviser Ayub Quaderi were also present at the meeting.
The sources said the education ministry will implement 20 biggest development projects on a priority basis so that the implementation delay can be avoided.
The budgetary allocations for the education ministry are Tk 12.23 billion in the current fiscal.
In the fiscal 2006-07, the original ADP allocations for the education ministry were set at Tk 12.55 billion, but the actual spending stood at Tk 9.44 billion.
The education ministry's performance was 75 per cent in terms of the revised plan, although the rate was 94 per cent considering the original ADP of the just-concluded fiscal, according to an evaluation report submitted to the Chief Adviser.
The sources pointed out the interim administration chief will also be analysing annual work and procurement plans of other "large" ministries which constitute the bulk ADP allocations within August. The size of the current ADP is TK 265 billion, which is 23 per cent higher than the just-out one.
On the basis of allocations, the interim administration has identified seven big ministries-education, power, primary and mass education, agriculture, health and family planning and local government and rural development.
The education ministry will institute a special award scheme for successful project directors (PDs) who will be able to complete the ADP projects in time, the meeting was told.
At the same time, project chiefs, whose performance will not be upto the mark, will be reprimanded.
Earlier, the caretaker chief directed the ministries and divisions to prepare their respective plans for the projects, scheduled for completion in June next year.
The CA also instructed the secretaries to prepare bar-chart indicating implementation progress for joint review of major projects on a monthly basis in key sectors such as power and energy.
According to a recent planning ministry circular, the advisers of concerned ministries can extend the period of projects marked by star (*) by June 30, 2007 without changing their scope and costs. The time extension is allowed only upto June 30, 2008. It also noted that in future all procedures for time extension have to be completed before the formulation of the ADP.
Among others, education, planning, IMED (implementation, monitoring and evaluation division), primary and mass education secretaries, chairman of University Grants Commission and relevant agency chiefs attended the meeting.
In a bid to avoid traditional time lag, Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed has asked the education ministry to wrap up all procedures for development projects by December, slated for completion in the current fiscal (2007-08).
The directive came Monday at a review meeting of the annual work and procurement plan of the education ministry, held at the Chief Adviser's Office.
The caretaker head has started reviewing the ADP work and procurement plans of the ministries which are considered the largest recipients of ADP allocations.
Ahmed, a former World Bank executive, has also suggested that the performance of a ministry should be evaluated considering its spending in proportion to the original annual development programme (ADP), not the revised one.
"You need to conclude all formalities by December for projects scheduled for completion in the current fiscal," Ahmed was quoted to have told the meeting he chaired.
Ahmed also asked the education ministry officials to conclude advertisement and evaluation process of projects to be completed next year within the third and fourth quarters of the current fiscal (FY08), a source who attended the meeting said.
Stressing on the timely implementation of education projects, Ahmed said these projects should be executed in a faster way, as education-related projects are different from construction-related ones.
Some 66 education projects are included in the current ADP, of which 20 account for 87 per cent of allocations.
Finance and planning adviser Mirza Azizul Islam and education adviser Ayub Quaderi were also present at the meeting.
The sources said the education ministry will implement 20 biggest development projects on a priority basis so that the implementation delay can be avoided.
The budgetary allocations for the education ministry are Tk 12.23 billion in the current fiscal.
In the fiscal 2006-07, the original ADP allocations for the education ministry were set at Tk 12.55 billion, but the actual spending stood at Tk 9.44 billion.
The education ministry's performance was 75 per cent in terms of the revised plan, although the rate was 94 per cent considering the original ADP of the just-concluded fiscal, according to an evaluation report submitted to the Chief Adviser.
The sources pointed out the interim administration chief will also be analysing annual work and procurement plans of other "large" ministries which constitute the bulk ADP allocations within August. The size of the current ADP is TK 265 billion, which is 23 per cent higher than the just-out one.
On the basis of allocations, the interim administration has identified seven big ministries-education, power, primary and mass education, agriculture, health and family planning and local government and rural development.
The education ministry will institute a special award scheme for successful project directors (PDs) who will be able to complete the ADP projects in time, the meeting was told.
At the same time, project chiefs, whose performance will not be upto the mark, will be reprimanded.
Earlier, the caretaker chief directed the ministries and divisions to prepare their respective plans for the projects, scheduled for completion in June next year.
The CA also instructed the secretaries to prepare bar-chart indicating implementation progress for joint review of major projects on a monthly basis in key sectors such as power and energy.
According to a recent planning ministry circular, the advisers of concerned ministries can extend the period of projects marked by star (*) by June 30, 2007 without changing their scope and costs. The time extension is allowed only upto June 30, 2008. It also noted that in future all procedures for time extension have to be completed before the formulation of the ADP.
Among others, education, planning, IMED (implementation, monitoring and evaluation division), primary and mass education secretaries, chairman of University Grants Commission and relevant agency chiefs attended the meeting.