KARACHI, March 26: The federal government has agreed, in principle, to provide matching grants to legislators for development schemes in their respective constituencies with the provision that they will have a role only in identifying projects while its implementation will be the liability of the city district government.

Earlier announcements were made by the prime minister and provincial chief ministers in this regard which were resented by the local government representatives as under the new system execution of development work in their respective districts was the responsibility of the Nazims, elected on the basis of party-less polls.

This grant to MNAs and MPAs, elected in the party-based elections in last October, will be in addition to the development projects conceived by the district city governments in their respective districts, it is reliably learnt.

The sources said that the government had also agreed to grant them supervisory role to ensure that the work was carried out in accordance with the approved specifications.

With increasing pressure from legislators for a role in the execution of development schemes in their constituencies, the government has agreed to provide a grant of Rs 5 million to each legislator for uplift projects in their respective constituencies.

The decision to allocate Rs 5 million to each legislator was taken in view of complaints that with the enforcement of new local government system, the legislators would be feeling deprived as all the district machinery, finances and development projects are at the disposal of the district Nazim.

According to insiders, in the process of change from old to a new system, feeling of erosion of authority was expected from those who had been wielding power in the past as the new system introduced in the country under the devolution scheme gave more powers to the Nazim.

The Sindh cabinet, while reviewing bottle-necks in the smooth functioning of the local government and the provincial authority, had last month formed a “task force”, headed by the chief minister, Sardar Ali Muhammad Mahar, to prepare recommendations to be sent to the National Reconstruction Bureau to make necessary changes to the SLGO.

The minister for local government, Mohammad Hussain, who is deputy chief of the task force, last month made a presentation at the NRB meeting in Islamabad regarding short-comings of the new system.

Highlighting the difficulties being faced by the provincial administration in discharging duties due to over-lapping of powers and realities on the ground, he stressed the need for bring amendments to the Sindh Local Government Ordinance so that legislators from the province can also have a role in development projects in their respective constituencies.

He also suggested formation of development committees in each district, comprising MNAs, MPAs and Nazim of their district to supervise development projects.

In the local bodies system, the provincial governments used to spend development funds at the district level through the provincial departments while under the new system of local governments, all funds meant for development at the divisional level were being transferred to the district government for execution of uplift schemes.