Officials to be trained to speed up project implementation
The finance ministry is initiating a training programme on procurement and financial management procedures for officials of the Health Service Division (HSD) in a bid to improve their efficiency.
The HSD was one of the worst performers in implementing its allocation under the annual development programme (ADP), even at a time when Covid-19 should have ramped up spending in the sector.
The ministry will train 100 HSD officials in five phases under a five-day programme conducted by the Institute of Public Finance, a research, training and capacity development institute established by the finance ministry.
The first batch is set to begin today.
"We noticed that one of the main reasons for slow project implementation in the healthcare sector is because of the HSD's inefficiency and difficulties in the procurement process," an official of the finance ministry told The Daily Star.
"So, we want to train them in this regard," he said.
Although healthcare is a priority sector, especially amid the ongoing pandemic, the HSD has emerged as one of the worst performers, spending just 58 per cent of its budget for FY 21.
This is nowhere near the average implementation rate of 82 per cent across all other sectors for that year.
In the first two months of the current fiscal, the HSD was able to spend just 1.21 per cent of its ADP allocation while some other government divisions have already spent anywhere from five to 14 per cent of their budget.
Just three weeks after the first coronavirus infection was detected in Bangladesh last year, the World Bank approved a $100 million financing scheme for the country's COVID-19 Emergency Response and Pandemic Preparedness Project.
Through this initiative, the World Bank aimed to help strengthen the national healthcare system and build its resilience to future shocks.
Besides, the project received another $100 million as co-financing from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, taking the total sum up to about Tk 2,536 crore including government allocations.
And although the Covid-19 pandemic demands faster implementation of health projects, the HSD spent just Tk 150 crore of its budget as of June this year.
It witnessed a very slow implementation in the initial period. However, project spending has accelerated in recent times, according to an official of planning ministry.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) in April last year approved a $100 million loan to support Bangladesh's government in its efforts to address the immediate public health requirements for combating Covid-19.
Just 18 per cent of this fund for the project, styled "Covid-19 Response Emergency Assistance Project'', was spent till August.
MA Sabur, a health system expert, said such training will not accelerate implementation.
"No one can guarantee that the officials who are taking the training will remain in their current position for the next six months. So, this training will not bring any positive change."
Teachers of different medical colleges and universities have been appointed in most of the projects at the Directorate General of Health Services but they have hardly any knowledge about procurement and project implementation, Sabur added.
"If you don't pick the right people, any amount of training is not going to work."
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