ISLAMABAD, Jan 14: Prime Minister’s Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tarin came under fire in the National Assembly on Wednesday over his claim that Rs400 billion given to MNAs “in cash” were held up in private banks.

Responding to a call-attention notice, the adviser said release of development funds to the MNAs had been delayed because the government was trying to properly do things that had traditionally been done in an ‘unconstitutional’ manner.

He said funds released through the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) on a quarterly basis were deposited by the members in current or savings accounts in private banks and were not returned in time.

He said an amount of Rs400 billion released for the MNAs was in private banks. He said the total amount so held was about Rs700 billion, if funds meant for public sector enterprises were included.

He said funding procedures would be streamlined and funds would be released through a consolidated account.He said the funds would be available when required, but the MNAs would not be able to withdraw cash and deposit it in private banks.

Members of the house sharply criticised the adviser for his ‘poor knowledge’ and said no funds for development were given to MNAs in cash. They objected to the term “MNAs etc” used by Mr Tarin, terming it an insult to the elected representatives.

Raja Mohammad Asad said the people who had come through ‘back door’ had no right to ridicule elected members of the house. He said the adviser could not win even the election of a local council.

He said Mr Tarin should either disclose the names of the MNAs who got development funds in cash or apologise. He said the delay in release of funds was causing problems for people.

Rasheed Akbar said he was ready to vacate his seat to allow Mr Tarin to contest election from his constituency. “I will shave my beard if he wins.”

He claimed there was a “wave of unemployment” and no development was taking place. He asked the government to give a time-frame for the release of funds.

Riaz Pirzada said a ‘misstatement’ in the house should be taken seriously.

Local Government Minister Abdul Razzaq Tahim also rejected the adviser’s claim, saying the funds were released to the agencies concerned after approval of the cost estimates. He said there were no funds meant for development projects in private banks.

He said the funds which would go in assignment accounts would lapse on June 30. He said 298 approved development schemes were pending with the finance division.

The parliamentary affairs minister said the members could neither get funds in cash today nor in the past. He said he would inform the prime minister of the issue within a couple of days. He apologised to the members enraged by the adviser’s remarks.

Mr Tarin also apologised to the members and said everyone in the house was respectable. He said he just wanted to say that the system was being improved, which was causing delays in the release of funds. He said the schemes proposed by the MNAs had been approved and the funds would not be stopped.

He said if the amount remained with the State Bank and the National Bank, the government would not have to pay overdraft charges. Earlier, Livestock Minister Mir Humayun Kurd caused some embarrassment to the treasury benches when he gave incoherent answers to a supplementary question asked in English and repeated in Urdu at the speaker’s request.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani requested Marvi Memon of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q to put a fresh question and advised the minister to come prepared next time to answer it after thoroughly studying the affairs of his ministry.

Health Minister Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani astonished the members when he revealed in a written reply to a question that the only two employees who were conducting ECG of women in the Federal Government Services Hospital, Islamabad, were an ‘aya’ of BS-2 and a midwife of BS-6. There are three women ECG technicians in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.