RAWALPINDI: With over Rs600 million development funds in its kitty, the Rawal Town Municipal Administration (RTMA) has started approaching PML-N local leaders to utilise it in the current fiscal year.

During the last five-year tenure of the PML-N in Punjab, development funds in the garrison city were spent on projects identified by the lawmakers of the party as all the seats of the national and provincial assemblies in the Rawalpindi city and cantonment areas were won by it.

However, in the 2013 general elections two National Assembly seats in the city were won by PTI chairman Imran Khan and Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

The seats were NA-56 (from Faizabad to Naz Cinema) and NA-55 (downtown areas from Dhoke Ratta to Satellite Town).

Likewise, three provincial assembly seats – PP-11, PP-12 and PP-13 - also went to the PTI.

Keeping the changed political picture in mind, the PML-N provincial government changed the five-year tradition of consulting lawmakers on launching development projects.

PTI MPA says ruling party ignoring elected representatives of opposition

This time, the PML-N introduced a new system under which the schemes are identified by the PML-N local leaders who lost the general elections in 2013.

During the fiscal year 2013-14, the RTMA allocated Rs390 million for the development schemes but managed to spend only Rs90 million of it.

This fiscal year, Rs640 million are available with the town administration to start development works in the 46 union councils of the city.

Last week, the RTMA sought proposals from the local PML-N leaders for preparing the annual development plan. In the initial phase, PML-N’s only MPA elected from Shamsabad and adjoining areas Raja Hanif Advocate and former MPAs Ziaullah Shah, Malik Ghulam Raza and PML-N City president Sardar Naseem were asked to identify development schemes in their respective areas.

A senior official of the RTMA told Dawn that the town administration would get the development schemes from former MNAs Hanif Abbasi, Malik Shakil Awan, Haji Pervaiz and others.

MPA Raja Hanif said the RTMA had sought his help in identifying the names of neglected areas for the construction of streets, roads, footpaths, drains and the installation of tubewells.

He said during the previous tenure of the PML-N, the local lawmakers identified the schemes.

MPA Arif Abbasi of the PTI said the Punjab government had asked the civic authorities not to carry out any work on the request of MPAs belonging to the PTI.

“I have been requesting the RTMA for providing us a crane with an electrician to replace the streetlights in Dhoke Khabba Street 7, Committee Mohallah Street 3, Dhoke Zaman, Ferozepura and Sir Syed Chowk but they neither refused nor accepted our request.”

He said the RTMA was contacting the local leaders of the ruling party for the identification of development schemes ignoring the elected members.

He said the PTI was resigning from the assemblies as it would be useless to just sit-in the assembly when the members of the opposition did not allow them to solve the problems of the people in their constituencies.

When contacted, Rawal Town Municipal Officer (TMO) Chaudhry Liaquat Ali said the civic agency was preparing the annual development plan, adding the projects would be launched on the identification of public representatives.

He said the RTMA worked under the provincial government and would implement the directives and policies of the government. “We are getting development schemes from the local leaders as per the government policy,” he added.

Published in Dawn, November 22th , 2014