Pittsburgh, September 25: Apparently worried that its aid to Pakistan routed through official channels may not end up benefiting people of that country, the Obama administration is currently exploring various other options to make an effective and judicious use of the tax payers’ money.
Meanwhile, India has warned US that such funds have been diverted to support hostile operations against states and needs to be monitored.
Sources said the Obama administration is not comfortable about routing all the aid money through the government of Pakistan as has been the case in the past, especially at a time when reports have appeared about how these funds had been diverted to boost defences against India.
Their remarks came as the US Senate unanimously voted to triple non-military aid to Pakistan to USD 1.5 billion per annum till 2014.
The Pakistan government during its deliberations with the Obama Administration in New York in the past few days has been insisting that it is the best bet for aid delivery.
Simultaneously, a strong group of Pakistan-based NGOs has been lobbying in Washington that they are the most effective and reliable means to reach the people of Pakistan and carry out developmental works in the country.
But the bitter experience which the US is having in neighboring Afghanistan, where as many as 70 per cent of the total US aid is routed through the non-governmental sector, is not helping the decision-making process of the Obama Administration either.
In the case of Afghanistan, routing such a huge chunk of money through the NGO sector has tended to erode the authority of the government and has also resulted in a lot of wastage as NGOs tend to contract and sub-contract their assignments and developmental works in Afghanistan.
Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, P J Crowley, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who held meetings with Pakistani leaders and the Friends of Democratic Pakistan, was “looking for ways, in the delivery of aid, to try to cut out the middlemen so that more of this aid, a higher percentage of the aid, ends up improving the situation on the ground.”
“I think it’s part of the frustration that perhaps you’ve heard the Secretary express recently about the nature of our contracting. And this is an indication of her efforts to try to streamline that process so that more aid gets to its intended target,” Crowley said.
He said that during the talks “we pledged to cooperate more closely with Pakistan on the delivery of aid. Ambassador Robin Raphel was also in the meeting and her focus is going to be better coordination, close collaboration with Pakistan to both identify priorities that Pakistan has and deliver it more effectively.”
–Agencies