ISLAMABAD: Caving in to pressure from parliamentarians from within and without, the PML-N has decided in principle to resume the practice of giving lawmakers development grants of Rs20 million per annum. But in keeping with their claims of good governance, the ruling party is looking to change the method of disbursement to check misappropriation and wastage of funds.

According to officials development schemes will be carried out under the supervision of the relevant district coordination officer (DCOs) and lawmakers will be required to coordinate with the district administration and highlight the needs of their respective constituencies.

During the PPP tenure, such grants were issued under the head of the People’s Works Programme, which drew a lot of flak over mismanagement. The PML-N government, however, is calling this programme ‘community development schemes’.

According to the official, the modus operandi for spending these grants is different this time. Under the new rules, the funds will be transferred directly to the respective provincial governments from where each lawmaker hails. The DCO of each area will have discretion over the funds, but will have to work in collaboration with legislators from each constituency under their supervision to identify projects needed in that particular area.

Under the previous government, lawmakers could get approval from the PM for development schemes worth Rs20 million every year without much ado when the funds were handled through the Public Works Department (PWD).

Defending the new ‘community development schemes’, an incumbent minister told Dawn the idea was to engage local communities who could take ownership of the schemes carried through these grants, helping make them more sustainable.

Under pressure from lawmakers, PML-N restarts development grants under new modus operandi

“Of course, lawmakers will take the lead role,” he said when asked who would have the final say in how to spend the money. He argued that scheme would be unlike the PPP’s, when the government was accused of misusing funds.

He recalled that under the previous government, some legislators obtained approvals for development projects in areas outside their own constituencies. “We want to ensure that the funds are properly spent on the ground and not siphoned off as had been done in the past,” the minister added.

According to sources within the government, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be used as the basic criteria when identifying ‘community development schemes’ for a certain area.

Another member of the federal cabinet confirmed the decision to launch ‘community development schemes’. “Though members of parliament can identify schemes but unlike past practice, they will not be able to spend the funds as they wish.”

Stories of corruption in the spending of these grants have been widely reported. In October 2010, ANP’s Bushra Gohar had a contractor arrested when he tried to offer her a bribe in exchange for a lucrative development scheme contract.

While ministers defend the new mechanism, its detractors see a major flaw in the way the government is required to sign off on the use of these funds.

“This way, the government can benefit the constituencies of its own lawmakers at the cost of their adversaries,” remarked a former PPP MNA. “Local governments are the ideal forum for such work, but, unfortunately, our so- called democrats have always detested the grass-root level governments.”

Another ruling party MNA told Dawn that they had been asking the PM for quite some time to restart these grants, saying that constituents were becoming increasingly irritated by the lack of development work at the constituency level.

Whatever the mechanism, they need development schemes in their constituencies. If the situation remains the same, “nobody will vote for them in the next elections,” the PML-N lawmaker said.

Published in Dawn January 29th, 2015

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