Govt refuses 10m grant to Convent School Bahawalpur
Aftab Ahmed
The PTI government has refused to approve a Rs 10 Million grant for the Convent School Bahawalpur during CFY 20-21, under the Sustainable Development Goals as part of a plan to promote inter-faith harmony.
The federal government has announced the establishment of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Achievement Programme (SAP) to make specific interventions, as per a surge in demand from communities across the country, in line with the UN conventions, Mr. Pervez Khattak, Minister for Defence is heading a Steering Committee to oversee and supervise the program.
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The program is currently in its third year of implementation as per SAP Guidelines duly approved by the Federal Cabinet.
The case for extending a grant of Rs. 10 million to the Convent School, Bahawalpur from the SAP funds came up for discussion in the SAP Steering Committee that met on February 18, 2021.
The school had multiple funding sources, including charity, and was also being run as a charitable and educational institution. As such, it did not fall in the approved sectors as per the SAP Guidelines.
Therefore, the Steering Committee on SAP, during its 19th meeting, held on February 18, 2021, inter alia, decided as under:
“The Cabinet Division to move a Summary to the Federal Cabinet to seek special permission for a grant of Rs.10 million for the project for Convent School in Bahawalpur from SAP funds, to promote interfaith harmony”.
As a result, the cabinet division moved a summary, but the Finance Division did not agree with the proposal stating that promoting inter-faith harmony did not fall in the SAP Guidelines, and therefore, did not support an ‘additional allocation’ of Rs 10.00 million as TSG to the Convent School in Bahawalpur.
The Division had reviewed and approved the case’s placement in the cabinet.
During the discussion, participants pointed out that the Finance Division had observed that the scope of the project did not fall in SAP guidelines that were no longer applicable because they were in the education sector.
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The Cabinet considered the summary titled ‘Approval of Funding of Rs.10 Million to the Convent School Bahawalpur during CFY 20-21, under the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Cabinet-submitted Strategic Action Plan (SAP) for the 10th of June, 2021.
Cabinet agreed with the finance division that the subject of inter-faith harmony does not fall in SAP guidelines and therefore did not approve.
However, the cabinet did not approve the grant of Rs 10 million and directed the finance division to explore other avenues for this funding.
