PESHAWAR, Nov 25: MPAs of the Awami National Party elected on reserved seats will no longer be authorised to fully utilise their annual discretionary funds because, onwards, 70 per cent of the funds earmarked for their development schemes will be spent by the party, it is learnt.
The senior party leadership recently took the decision, which was accordingly communicated to quarters concerned in the provincial government for changes in the procedure.
The NWFP government has been allocating Rs10 million under the Tameer-i-Sarhad Programme (TSP) to each MPA, including those elected on reserved seats, for uplift schemes in their respective constituencies since 2003. In the current Annual Development Programme, Rs1.24 billion has been set aside for the same initiative.
“Since these MPAs (elected on reserved seats) do not have particular constituencies, funds earmarked for their uplift schemes can be utilised with the party recommendation anywhere in the province,” said Afrasyab Khattak, provincial chief of the ANP, when approached by Dawn here on Tuesday.
He said 70 per cent of the funds, reserved for these MPAs, would be spent on development schemes to be identified by local party organisations on need basis. However, he said, they could recommend projects to be financed through the remaining 30 per cent funds out of their share in the TSP.
A system of monitoring this spending was being put in place at the party level, he maintained.
Party sources said the idea behind the decision was to execute uplift schemes in those areas where the party did not have representation in provincial and national assemblies. The party leadership had taken the MPAs elected on reserved seats into confidence while making the decision, said a woman MPA.
“In many constituencies party candidates have lost with narrow margin so if our funds are used for the uplift of the people in those areas it will benefit the people and strengthen the party as well,” remarked the MPA.
Of the total 25 seats allocated for women and minorities in the NWFP Assembly, the ANP has 10 seats, including nine women and one seat reserved for minorities, which means the share of these MPAs in the TSP comes to Rs100 million. Of this amount, Rs70 million will be spent on schemes to be identified by the party.
In line with the ANP’s decision, procedures for approving and releasing funds for the projects covered under the TSP were modified at a meeting of the Provincial Steering Committee (PSC) on the TSP held on Nov 18, an official said.
As per the decision, onwards the schemes identified by MPAs of reserved seats would be approved by their respective parliamentary leaders before its submission to the PSC, the competent forum for approval of all TSP-funded projects, the official said.
The PCS had also decided that the local government and rural development department, being the coordinating agency for the TSP, would scrutinise all schemes as per guidelines and forward the same to the district government concerned for approval at the local level.
The official further said the PSC had also prepared a timeline for approval and execution of uplift projects being funded under the TSP. As per the decision, the planning and development department will conduct annual and quarterly review of the TSP.
Likewise, according to the timeline agreed at the PSC meeting, identification of schemes by the sponsoring MPA would be carried out from July 1 to Oct 31 and scrutiny and approval of the district government would be finalised by Nov 30.
Similarly, clearance from the local government and rural development department for approval of the chief minister and release of funds by the finance department would be made by Dec 15 and Dec 31, respectively, the official said.
He further said that mid-year review of implementation of TSP initiatives would be carried out by March 31, followed by annual review between June 15 and 20. The planning and development department would review and compile annual reports between June 20 and 30 each year, he added.