District Accounts and Development Funds Sibi

District Accounts

In paragraph 4.6. some information is given on the revenue administration, especially on which government institution is responsible for collection of which revenue. An attempt has been made to gather figures on the actual streams of revenues and expenditures at district level. However, a more or less complete picture could not be obtained. The data that were collected lead to the conclusion that the local resource mobilisation is not enough to cover the costs. For expenditures on recurrent costs and on development the district is dependent on transfers from outside the district.

Development Funds.

The funds for social and economic development have different sources and there are different types of development activities. In Sibi district one can distinguish the following six types:

i. Community initiated development activities.

ii. Indigenous NGO initiated development activities.

iii. Religion based development activities.

iv. Local government initiated development activities.

v. Provincial government initiated development activities.

vi. Federal government initiated development activities.

The organisations above are not listed in order of their contribution to Sibi’s development. They will be discussed in this order though, as this will help assess to what extend development initiatives are initiated bottom-up.

Community initiated development activities (CIDA)

In Sibi district, community initiated development activities are of two types:

      1. Development of infrastructure and services of common interest, such as water courses, wells, paths, etc.; and
      2. Social welfare services for a specific community. The beneficiaries are the particular communities that developed the services or facilities concerned. No documentation is available on the scale of CIDA, their output, and financial size. The most prominent activity of this type is that of development and maintenance of irrigation system, paths, etc.

Indigenous NGO initiated development activities

There are 23 registered NGOs in Sibi district, and several more un-registered NGOs. Their activities are, strictly speaking, not development focused, but can be considered as development activities, as they contribute to human development and social welfare. No information is available regarding their development expenditure and size and sources of income. The development outlays are however, small.

Some of these NGOs and CBOs receive funds from outside sources. OXFAM, for instance, is supporting 12 NGOs and CBOs in Sibi and Bolan districts in a variety of fields such as arid land development, livestock and environment.

Religious based development activities

This category of development activities is confined mainly to the education sector. Most mosques provide facilities for religious education, and a number of "makatibs" (religious schools) exist. Non-Muslims, too, have developed similar facilities for their respective communities. These activities have development implications, but they are not strictly speaking development activities. No data is available on their number and financial outlay. Nor is any information available about activities initiated by religious groups, that could be termed as ‘development’.

Local Government

The local government bodies, comprising union councils, town committee (Harnai), municipal committee (Sibi) and the district council, undertake development activities oriented to facilitate living and working condition and to contribute to productive activities in their respective localities. These activities mainly comprise: access roads and path construction, water supply; irrigation improvement, soil and land conservation, sanitation improvement, etc. The thirteen union councils in the Sibi district completed ninety development schemes during 1991-95 at total cost of Rs. 2.6 million. Money was provided by the Local Government and Rural Development Department. The union councils’ role in the activities is restricted to development needs identification and supervision of implementation of development work.

Provincial Government

Provincial government is responsible for providing of funds and directing of development of the district. Its activities embrace all productive sectors, social services and infrastructure described in chapters 5-8. Implementation of programmes is carried out by the line departments in the district. Though a separate development program for the district is not prepared, the district’s share in the province’s development programmes is ascertained through the line departments’ annual development programs. Each department annually communicates its development allocation and specific schemes.

The provincial Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) is the most important source of development funds. The revised allocation for the PSDP for the financial year 1995-96 amounted to Rs. 13.235 million, all local funds, for 9 projects. In the next year the allocation decreased to Rs. 9.942 million for 6 projects, again without any foreign assistance. The current PSDP (1997-98) shows a sharply increased allocation of Rs. 51.483 million for 26 projects, including a foreign component of Rs. 18.587 million. These figures have however to be treated with some caution, because it is not at all certain that the provincial government can make the required funds available.

In the PSDP allocation for 1997-98 the SAP-sectors would receive 25 % of the allocation, the non-SAP sectors 75%. The biggest sector by far is the irrigation sector with an allocation of Rs. 26.27 million, followed by education (Rs. 12,674 million, of which Rs. 33.713 million is earmarked for secondary education), and health (Rs. 3.952 million).

Federal Government

The Federal government’s involvement in the district’s development is limited to the construction of highways, telecommunication and power and gas supply. An important on-going activity is the road linking Karachi with Punjab through Sibi district.

 

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