Winning votes?: PIDC funds to be diverted to PM, deputy PM’s constituencies

Government apparently considering giving out funds as cash stipends to over 5,000 people in their constituencies.

ISLAMABAD:

Funds meant for industrial development are allegedly going to be used to lure voters in the prime minister and deputy prime minister’s constituencies.

With elections mere months away, the government is apparently considering giving out these funds in the form of cash stipends to over 5,000 people in these constituencies.

It has been proposed that the money should be taken out of the funds of the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC).

The premier had already used up his annual discretionary development budget of Rs22 billion in just three-and-a-half months. After this, the government had cut the development budget of the already underdeveloped Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) by one-fourth to provide more funds to him for his constituencies.

Sources in the ministry of production revealed that two schemes for providing a monthly cash stipend of Rs5,000 to select people in Gujjar Khan and Gujrat have been formally proposed last week.

Gujjar Khan is the constituency of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and Gujrat is considered to be stronghold of Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. The proposals have been floated by using the platform of Aik Hunar Aik Nagar, known as AHAN – a subsidiary of PIDC.

The PIDC is a department attached to the ministry of production, whose minister is Anwar Ali Cheema of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), the same party as the deputy prime minister. AHAN’s chairperson, Samina Khawar Hayat also belongs to PML-Q.

According to the proposals, the two projects will be introduced in the sectors of pottery and embroidery. The government has proposed imparting training to those selected for the scheme, in addition to the monthly stipend. The total cost of these projects is around Rs150 million.

The proposals were floated at the PIDC’s Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP) forum last Saturday. An official who attended the DDWP meeting said that participants raised objections over the high cost of the projects and their objectives, and above all, the use of PIDC funds for a sector that did not have the status of an industry.

Officials said that AHAN does not have the mandate to give stipends to people, and that this would result in duplicating the work of the Benazir Income Support Programme. They also objected over restricting the projects to only two constituencies.A PIDC Board of Directors member, Izhar Hunzai, said PIDC’s funds can only be used for investment projects and only for the facilitation of industry. He said that as far as he knew, the AHAN projects have not been tabled for consideration before the board.

AHAN chairperson Hayat,however, confirmed that she had proposed two schemes for the two sectors in the last DDWP meeting. She maintained that the schemes were not meant to give any political advantages to the premier and the deputy premier.

Hayat defended the decision to use industrial development funds while insisting the PIDC board of directors has cleared the schemes. She admitted that the schemes met with opposition in the last DDWP meeting and that the cost of the projects came under criticism.

PIDC CEO Khalid Mahmood Chadda was not available for comment.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2012.