Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has undone the one good thing he did after assuming the office for the third time in June 2013 - abandoning the selfish political strategy of his predecessors of awarding development grants to legislators.

Development grants for parliamentarians had long been a controversial issue. It is argued that parliamentarians’ primary job is legislation, not looking after civic needs of their constituents. It looked the PML-N leadership had learnt from the bad governance of the PPP, which the media and the PML-N had been quick to spot and drum up throughout the PPP rule, and decided to steer away from the path that lost the PPP the 2013 general elections.

But it seems that after resisting them for almost two years, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gave in to the old addiction of the victorious PML-N legislators for development largesse.

Last week, his government restored the crafty practice, though with a sleight of hand.

An innocent announcement by the federal government said it has released Rs12.5 billion for carrying out community development schemes across the country.

The sudden release of such a big amount gave rise to question where it came from and who would spend it?

Inquiries and men in the know revealed that the amount was earmarked for implementing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the Public Sector Development Programme for the current financial year, ending on June 30, and now has been placed at the disposal of the Cabinet Division.

There are eight MDGs: eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, gender equality, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating HIV/Aids, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development. And focal ministry for this purpose was the one led by Ahsan Iqbal who is pursuing Pakistan Vision 2025.

But with the change in the development strategy, and the fund parked with the Cabinet Division, the job has now gone to Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab.

A look back would show the PML-N challenging the use of discretionary funds by the former PPP Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the Supreme Court and the court ruling in December 2013 that such practices shouldn’t be repeated in future. Ex-PM Pervaiz Ashraf had diverted some Rs47 billion for development of his Gujar Khan constituency under the People’s Works Programme. PM Nawaz Sharif’s government has rebranded the programme as Community Development Schemes.

“On paper, the (incumbent) prime minister has shunned the practice of discretionary development funds, but essentially he is following in the footsteps of his predecessor,” a senior official of the Planning Commission confided to Dawn.

But ask Mr Aftab Sheikh and he finds it different. “In our Community Development Schemes, people’s representatives at the grassroots level will be involved in identifying development projects they need,” he explains. “The concept is engaging communities in development schemes to create the sense of ownership. That unfortunately was missing in the past.

“Unlike the practice in the past, this time the district coordination officers will be acting as focal persons in spending the (development) funds,” asserted the minister.

But wasn’t that the case in the local government system introduced by the military ruler Pervez Musharraf?

Indeed, the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly is stacked with audit reports that say the Public Works Department failed to discharge its role in community development mainly because of political interventions and interference.

In any case, political analysts say, the question remains how can communities develop in the absence of local governments? At the best, the Rs12.5 billion funds will appease some long hungry MNAs and MPAs.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play