The sly officials wove the projects into the proposed ADP document showing specific allocations against them violating the hard and fast rule which requires approval of several authorities first.

According to planning ministry sources, lobbyists and some ministers had been trying hard for the last few days to insert more of their pet projects in the ADP list infringing the procedural norms.

The trick is, if a specific allocation is shown against a project in the ADP and if parliament okays the programme, the project gets the first tranche of government funding without approval of the Ecnec (Executive Committee of National Economic Council).

Normally, when the first tranche of fund of an unapproved project is disbursed, the Ecnec clears the project without considering its importance or social relevance. The officials and lobbyists were trying to avail of this opportunity to get government resources for their projects without their merits being tested, sources explained.

After the finance minister came across the 113 unauthorised projects, he directed the planning ministry to drop all of them from the main ADP and keep them without any budgetary allocation.

Planning ministry sources said the malpractice has its root in the personal interests of some bigwigs of the ministry as well as some ministers and parliamentarians.

Some of these projects did not even come from the ministries concerned. The planning ministry itself adopted them.

For instance, a project titled 'Upgrading Jagannath College into an University' was not placed by the education ministry, whose concern it is. Instead, the planning ministry went out of the way in putting it in the ADP against an allocation of Tk 50 crore and showing an expenditure of Tk 1 crore for the next fiscal year.

The project wants to allow the future Jagannath University also to operate privately at night.

Sources said the project was incorporated in the ADP because the wife of a planning ministry high official is a management committee member of Jagannath College.

When asked to verify whether the education ministry was involved in the project or not, an official of the ministry said, "It may have been incorporated as a priority project identified by the Prime Minister's Office."

Sources said the printed ADP document for next fiscal year now shows 972 projects. But after revision, the number of projects would come down to 872.

Among the irregularly inserted projects are 'management efficiency enhancement programme for civil services of Bangladesh,' 'construction of various sports complexes, jails, buildings, etc,' and 'initiating the Rup Pur Atomic Power Centre'.

Sources said some of these projects do have apparent good values, while a good many are construction oriented and many do not have any positive significance at all.