MEDIA BRIEF, 30.05.2006 

ISLAMABAD : Amid reports of 50% underutilization of the development allocation of the current budget, there is fear that this trend may hamper further spending in the development sector under the forthcoming Public Sector Development Programme in the news budget. 
 

This was the crux of a national consultation workshop on "Peoples Concerns on Budget" organized by ActionAid International here on Tuesday under its campaign to track budget in the interests of the people.ActionAid  has instituted a systematic and comprehensive process of advocacy and economic literacy campaign to educate/literate the people on budgetary issues. It has formed an advocacy group called “Economic Literacy and Budget Advocacy Group (ELBAG)” that lobbies for more pro people and pro development allocations taking gender perspective into account. Those who spoke on this occasion include: Dr Rubina Saigol, Country Director ActionAid , Ahsan Iqbal of PML-N, Naheed Afandi of Labour Party, Muhammad Hussain Mahanti , Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal and Dr.Ahmad Nawaz Hakro of the Quaid-e-Azam University . 

The speakers expressed concerns that when it comes to applying cuts in government spending, the PSDP allocation usually becomes the first target. This has happened during the past couple of years where some projects initially earmarked larger allocations have had their funding reduced. The reports for current year is disappointing that narrate only 50% of the estimated Development Budget has been spent actually. Resultantly development schemes promised in the budget did not materialize. Other than to allocate higher funds to the PSDP, the government needs to show a commitment to protect all the projects falling under its purview from budget cuts and quality of work done under the PSDP also has to be carefully monitored, they added 

The participants recommended as follows: 
 

• There is a need of overhauling   the macro economic policies, fiscal, monetary and industrial policies, certainly with human face to target the poorest of the poor, the growth policies must be designed in such a manner to have proportionally greater benefits to the poorer and fair share for everyone, equitable growth benefits with economic justice along with faster reduction in poverty and inequality.  
• Tax Incidence on poor should be reduced and more tax/ or redistribute policies with clear positive bias in favor of poor should be designed. The speculators, smugglers, and ultra rich should be brought under the tax net.  
• Substantial reduction in defense and non-development expenditure with faster reduction in external loan, with increasing expenditure share on social, human and physical infrastructure. External loans/agreements should be subject to parliamentary discussion and debate, should not be the under the authoritarian powers of few individuals who represent the interests of the richer classes.  
• Extending the government land to land less peasants or those who don have access to land resources for livelihood.  
• Strong government subsidies redistribute policies with cash conditional incentive for gender-targeted education and health facilities.  
• Better provision of basic services of portable drinking water, sanitation, law and order and all other subsidies social programs which directly have positive impact on the poor. 
• Confiscation of illegally accumulation wealth of lords and generals earned through speculative, hoarding, real state property and other illegal means of corruption.  
• Increase spending and investment in criminally neglected social sector. 
   
• Greater women equality  
• Identify the linkages between budget and poverty reduction;  
• Establish a clear policy and institutional framework for effective public spending  - ideally one that maximizes poverty impact; and positive impact on gender  
• Recognize the need to demonstrate the poverty impact of public spending in compared with spending in other sectors (e.g. health and education); and, extending the program to monitor able and deliverable targets which addressing the vulnerable parts of the society usually women and children  
• Enable approaches to pro-poor spending that are flexible and responsive to specific regional and country needs.  
• Reduce the subsidies to public sector inefficient WAPDA and other fertilizer and corporations and wheat subsidy to big landlords. Ensure the subsidies to the targeted population and ensure food security. 
• Reduce the level of corruption ‘leaky bucket as most of the government programs are inefficient, bureaucratic and political bribe. Zakat sysem is excellent but is handed over as a political bribe, needs to be redesigned with direct transfers to the beneficiers.  
• Social security especially for widows, disable and handicapped and elderly be extended with the participation of the noble people like 'Abdul Sattar Edhi'.  
• Government should encourage charitable organizations for health infrastructure which is poorest.  
• Government should ensure the social economic cultural rights of the people ensuring them decent, life, work and dignity of person, rather than throwing them in the name of downsizing, deregulation and policies of privatization. 
   

Other methods of pro poor change 
 

• Strengthening demand/capacity of service users, and local level officials, to ‘draw down' resources from the centre through:  
• Transparency, information dissemination  
• Public expenditure tracking  
• Enhancing the clarity of rights and entitlements  
• Capacity building for civil society/local action 
• Rights entitlements and policy  
• Empowering for the poor and marginalized  
• Human Rights framework – international normative and legal framework stressing inclusion, participation, obligation  
• Political development – moving from patronage to citizenship and rights (basis for collective action)  
• Entitlements provided on a citizenship basis, non-discriminatory in intent  
• Legal or administrative systems of redress are sufficiently effective/accessible for equitable impact  
• Can be realistically provided on sustainable basis  
• Established through relatively accountable, democratic process  
• Research-based advocacy initiatives aimed at influencing policy to better fulfill rights 
• Government-led gender analysis initiatives  
• Government-led consultation exercises (e.g. PPAs)  
• Transparency and information initiatives  
• Participatory budgeting initiatives  
• Developing a rights-based approach to public provision (including direct assistance to the disadvantaged to effectively make claims)