The Punjab Provincial Assembly was presented with a concerning financial report during its post-budget debate, revealing that no government department in the province met its development expenditure targets for the third quarter of the 2024–25 fiscal year. The report highlights a significant shortfall in the utilization of allocated funds, raising questions about administrative efficiency and project execution.
Budget vs. Actual Spending
The Punjab government had earmarked Rs488.43 billion for development initiatives in Q3, but only Rs355.43 billion was utilized, leaving a substantial portion of the budget unspent. This gap underscores challenges in translating financial allocations into tangible outcomes across various sectors.
Departmental Performance Breakdown
The report detailed spending inefficiencies across multiple departments:
- Agriculture Department: Allocated Rs3 billion, but only Rs1.21 billion was spent, hampering efforts to boost agricultural productivity.
- Board of Revenue: Received Rs30.5 billion, yet utilized just Rs4.79 billion, indicating sluggish progress in revenue-related projects.
- Communication and Works: Out of Rs4.62 billion allocated, only Rs2.91 billion was spent, delaying critical infrastructure development.
- Education Department: Mirroring the Communication and Works Department, it spent Rs2.91 billion of its Rs4.62 billion budget, impacting educational initiatives.
- Finance Department: Utilized Rs1.33 billion from a Rs2.3 billion allocation, reflecting cautious financial management.
- Forests, Wildlife & Fisheries: A standout performer, spending Rs296.04 billion of its Rs324.24 billion budget, though still falling short of full utilization.
- Health Department: Spent Rs1.26 billion of its Rs1.98 billion allocation, limiting advancements in healthcare infrastructure.
- Home Department: Utilized only Rs2.18 billion from a hefty Rs25.5 billion budget, raising concerns about security-related spending.
- Housing & Public Health Engineering: Spent Rs670 million of its Rs1.22 billion allocation, slowing urban development projects.
- Industry, Trade & Investment: Managed to use just Rs270 million of its Rs1.64 billion budget, stunting industrial growth.
- Irrigation Department: Spent Rs5.85 billion of its Rs19.5 billion allocation, affecting water management projects.
- Livestock & Dairy Development: Utilized Rs930 million of its Rs1.97 billion budget, impacting agricultural and dairy initiatives.
- Law and Parliamentary Affairs: Spent Rs1 billion of its Rs1.41 billion allocation, showing moderate progress.
- Mines & Minerals: Utilized Rs12.06 billion of its Rs31 billion budget, indicating underperformance in resource development.
- Police Department: A relatively strong performer, spending Rs13.93 billion of its Rs16.25 billion allocation.
- Miscellaneous Expenses: Only Rs7.65 billion was used from a Rs24.17 billion allocation, reflecting broad underutilization.
Implications and Assembly Discussions
The widespread underspending has sparked alarm among policymakers, with critics pointing to bureaucratic bottlenecks and inadequate project planning as key contributors. As Punjab faces pressing socio-economic challenges, the failure to fully utilize development funds could delay critical improvements in infrastructure, healthcare, education, and security.
The financial report is expected to fuel intense debates in the Provincial Assembly, with lawmakers likely to press for accountability and demand strategies to improve fund utilization in the remaining fiscal year. The government will need to address these inefficiencies to regain momentum and deliver on its development promises.
