Pry education dev prog takes another knock

The government trimmed a major primary education-development programme due to overlapping with two other similar projects and, as a result, its execution would now be delayed by another year and a half.
In its Tuesday meeting, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) revised the existing Tk 221.96 billion Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP)-3, cutting the cost by Tk 4.04 billion.
After the meeting was over, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said now the revised project cost stood at Tk 181.54 billion and its implementation period got extended up to December 2017 instead of previous deadline of June 2016.
With Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, the ECNEC also approved four new projects at an aggregate cost of Tk 2.50 billion at its meeting Tuesday.
The Planning Minster said: "The government, in the meantime, has undertaken two fresh projects for the stipend and fund for education in the primary school level. The PEDP-3 also had such components. So we revised the PEDP-3 by cutting the above-mentioned two components."
The cost has been cut by Tk4.04 billion from the PEDP-3. And the execution period has been extended for another one and two years, Mr Kamal said.
He said: "The PEDP-3 project was approved one month later, in August 2011, from the stipulated start time in July 2011. For this reason, there was no fund allocation for the project under the development budget at the beginning FY2011-12."
However, the government in the revised Annual Development Programme (ADP) 2011-12 had allocated Tk 2.24 billion for the PEDP-3.
A top official at the Planning Commission takes exception to the step. He said although two key components of the PEDP-3 were dropped from the ongoing project, its time was also extended by one and a half years.
 "This is a ridiculous decision. Project-execution delay always diminishes the actual development goal of the country," said the planning official.   
The newly approved four other projects are: Setting up of two sporting schools in Rajshahi and Chittagong at Tk 789.6 million, special development work of Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, at a cost of Tk 740 million, establishment of Bhola textile institution at Tk 649.9 million, and BSCIC industrial park in Chuadanga at Tk 324.8 million.
Ministers and secretaries concerned, high officials of the Planning Commission were present at the ECNEC meeting.
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