20 March 2004	Saturday	28 Muharram 1425

ISLAMABAD, March 19: Parliamentarians on Friday expressed their reservations over the delay in the release of development funds under Tameer-i-Pakistan programme for their approved schemes and asked a parliamentary committee to supervise the development progress.

Even the members from the treasury benches deplored that Nazims had become more powerful than the elected representatives. They were of the opinion that hindrances were being created in the way of the approved schemes of the members.

The government had allocated Rs10 million for each MNA under Tameer-i-Pakistan programme during the year 2003-04. Ruling party member Riaz Hussain Pirzada accused Daniyal Aziz, chairman of the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB), of making Nazims more powerful than the members of the national assembly.

"Either the members should not be given any funds at all for the development of their areas, but when they are being given funds as per the government decisions, then there should be no hindrance," he said.

This prompted Daniyal Aziz to remind the member that it was a settled matter that MNAs should not be involved in the petty affairs like constructing drains and roads. He also emphasized that the 1973 Constitution also protected schedule 6, under which the local body government system had been formed in the country.

The NRB had arranged a four-day consultation in which a large number of MNAs and chief ministers of different provinces participated, he said, adding that after discussing 127 different issues, the meeting formulated a set of recommendations which was later submitted to the prime minister for approval.

It is high time that the local government system was accepted and made more powerful because the municipality system in the past had failed to deliver, the NRB chairman said.

The local governments are facing lot of difficulties in improving the situation badly damaged by the successive governments in the name of social development, he said and asked the members not to repeat the follies of the past.

Pakistan is moving forward and its experience in the field of local body system is better than that of countries like South Africa, China and Uganda, he said.

Meanwhile, Hafiz Hussain clarified that the MMA had reservations about the schedule 6, which had been given constitutional protection for another six years. He called for forming a committee of the House to discuss and address concerns of the members.

Earlier, Minister for Environment and Local Bodies Maj (retired) Tahir Iqbal told the House that letters about the concern of the members had already been dispatched to the departments concerned. However, he conceded that the relationship between the local governments and the members was not exemplary.