Ministries asked not to include fresh projects in RADP

The government has asked the ministries and departments concerned not to include any fresh or unapproved projects in the Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP) for the current fiscal year (FY), 2013-14, officials said.
The ministries and departments have already started revising allocations for the projects, taken under the ADP.
The RADP policy guideline for FY 2013-14, prepared recently by the Planning Commission (PC), also prioritises the projects related to poverty alleviation, Public Private Partnership (PPP), agriculture, agro-based industry, power generation, and rehabilitation of cyclone-affected people.
Any unapproved project should not be proposed for funding in the RADP, it said.
Officials said they include hundreds of unapproved projects in the ADP every fiscal without providing allocations, following pressure from the ministries and political leaders.
The PC guideline also asked officials to provide fund for the projects, taken to ensure balanced area-based development.
It also asked them to ensure availability of fund for the projects, scheduled to be completed by this fiscal. If necessary, funds can be diverted to those from other 'slow-moving' projects.
The guideline also asked the officials not to include in the RADP the projects that could be implemented by the private sector.
The government may reduce budget allocation under the current ADP for different ministries and departments. For this, the PC has announced the policy guideline to detect priority areas for the RADP, sources concerned said.
The number of projects under ADP is increasing every year despite poor rate of execution of the same. In this situation further inclusion of fresh and unapproved projects affects implementation of the ongoing projects, officials said.
"The Planning Commission should only entertain projects, urgent for national development, and should ensure specific allocations," they added.
In the budget for the FY 2013-14 the government allocated Tk 658.72 billion for the ADP. Different ministries and departments have utilised Tk 131.56 billion of the total allocation during the first five months of the current FY (July-November), which was much lower than that of the corresponding period.
In the budget for the FY 2012-13 the government allocated Tk 550 billion for the ADP, and some 96 per cent of the amount was utilised.