LAHORE, Jan 23: The funds for Tameer-i-Punjab Programme would be utilized through district coordination officers, official sources said here on Thursday.

Under the programme — announced by the chief minister the other day, development schemes would be identified by committees comprising local MPAs. However, there was little chance of inclusion of opposition MPAs in these committees, the sources added.

The committees would be constituted by the provincial department for local government and rural development. The size of these committees was yet to be decided.

Funds would be allocated to the constituencies and not the MPAs, whose role would be restricted to identification and supervision of development schemes in their respective districts.

During the current fiscal year, Rs5 million would be spent under the programme in each constituency, which would get another Rs5 million in the next financial year, as promised by the chief minister.

The sources said money for the purpose would be released through the Provincial Consolidated Fund, which had nothing to do with the district government funds.

The projects under this programme would be in addition to the development schemes of district governments, they said.

Payments were to be made through the provincial account, which the DCO would maintain separately.

The assistant director for local government concerned would act as a staff officer of the DCO, but the schemes would be executed by departments of the provincial government.

Previously, all projects used to be executed by assistant directors for local government. The system has been changed in the wake of massive frauds in schemes like the People’s Works Programme.

Big projects could also be initiated in more than one constituencies with the consent of the MPAs concerned.

According to the sources, good aspect of the programme was that an equal amount of funds would be spent on development of every constituency no matter whether it was represented by the treasury bench or the opposition.

In the past, constituencies of the opposition members used to be neglected because of the allocation of funds to MPAs. Now, MPAs’ only prerogative would be to identify schemes “in every constituency”.

Under the plan, MPAs would identify development schemes relating to health, education, electrification, sanitation and construction of small roads, which, according to the chief minister, would have to be completed within two years.