Editorial
The new ADP
Given its size, implementation responsibility is that much bigger
OF the 910 development projects to be taken up in the freshly announced Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the fiscal 2010-11, 816, that is, about 90 per cent have been carried over from the previous year's ADP. But in the previous fiscal, as the secretary of the planning division admitted, only 60 per cent of the development projects could be implemented. Even then, the government has made an ambitious allocation for the next fiscal's ADP at Tk 81.67 billion.
Now if previous experience of slow rate of ADP implementation is any guide, then how does the government hope to execute all the projects for next ADP in time? Though the planning minister claimed that the ADP implementation rate has improved in the current fiscal, in actual practice, it has done so marginally. But if the pace of implementation has to make any difference, it will have to improve significantly over what it was in the past. The chief demerits of rushing implementation work towards the end of a financial year have been the decline in the quality of implementation; which is why it has to be avoided.
Hopefully, the directive of the prime minister in this regard to outline the preliminary work for the projects immediately may help to expedite the work after the projects are taken up at the end of the rainy season. But still one would be looking for concrete measures on the part of the planning and finance ministries as well as that of the line ministries in terms of effective coordination of efforts.
But where has the government to start? The sluggishness factor that ails bureaucracy is rooted in the movement of the files. The files for the project work have to move from one table to another endlessly before they are okayed by departmental heads concerned. So, it will be necessary for the government to devise a system to reduce the number of steps drastically for achieving the objective of speedier execution of the projects. For all we know, procurement policies have been relaxed and powers have been delegated to the project directors. This should speed up implementation process.
The weakness in the implementing capacity of the projects notwithstanding, it cannot, however, be gainsaid that progressive enlargement of the size of the ADP for every next fiscal reflects the need of the time. So, the government has earmarked the largest chunk (21 per cent) of the ADP budget for agriculture and water resources followed by power and energy at 16 per cent. The pattern of emphasis is well taken. But it is the utilisation of funds that will have to be ensured as per targets.
For a change, we look forward to a definitive acceleration of the process of implementation in the first six months of the fiscal, so that the remainder is not overburdened with unfinished projects.
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