Backtracking from its previous claim of not utilising development funds through lawmakers, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in Punjab is set to allocate Rs100mn to each of its members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs).
In this regard, the government has already collected development proposals from the ruling party MPAs.
In the past, the PTI criticised the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) for utilising development funds through its parliamentarians.
However, after coming to power in Punjab, the party sought development proposals from its members of the provincial assembly.
A senior leader of the party said that the MPAs submitted their development proposals to the government last month but due to the financial crisis the funds were yet to be released.
“The PTI’s parliamentary meeting is scheduled to be held in Lahore (this week) to discuss issues pertaining to the ruling party members in their respective districts. The MPAs will ask the provincial government to start development works.”
He said the ruling party members had also decided to raise the issue of bureaucracy as senior officials of the district administrations were not co-operating with them to resolve problems of the citizens.
He said the MPAs also wanted to launch new projects in their areas, especially in those union councils that were neglected during the tenure of the previous PML-N government.
He said the party also wanted to change the local government system in the province, as at present the PML-N has a majority in all the municipal corporations and district councils.
Any change to the local government law could only be made through the provincial assembly, but the ruling PTI does not have the required majority in the house.
In this situation, he added, the provincial government had allocated Rs100mn to each ruling party MPA, and asked them to submit their development proposals.
“We have submitted the development proposals to the Punjab government, which would release the funds soon,” said Chaudhry Adnan, a PTI MPA from Rawalpindi.
He said there is a dire need to launch new projects in many areas as the previous government remained busy in executing projects to make commissions.
“The shortage of water and other issues were ignored in the past, and being elected representatives of the people, it is our duty to inform the government about it,” he said.
The MPA said that the PTI lawmakers had presented their proposals to the government, which would spend funds on the sectors as pointed out by the MPAs.
When contacted, PTI MPA Umer Tanveer said the development funds would be spent by the government; the role of the ruling party MPAs is only to identify problems of the residents.
“The provincial government allocated Rs100mn for each constituency, and in this regard we will give a presentation in the parliamentary meeting (this week),” he said.
The government would also resolve problems of the citizens in the cantonment areas as the proposals included water supply schemes.
On the other hand, a senior official of the district administration said that the previous PML-N government in Punjab made a political move before the general elections on July 25, 2017, by preparing the development plan in 2018 and launching many projects.
“More than 50% work on the projects had been completed on these development schemes worth over Rs3bn, and the provincial government would not take the risk of stopping work on them. These projects have to be completed before launching new schemes.”
The official said the government is facing problems to start new schemes before completing the ongoing ones.
“It is the basic reason behind the delay in the release of funds for the new projects. But the MPAs are hopeful to arrange funds for development schemes in their areas,” he said.