PM’s discretionary fund: Govt set to scrap 500 development schemes

These schemes were initiated during the PPP’s previous tenure under People’s Works Programme.

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) government is all set to scrap around 500 pending directives which the prime ministers of the former Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) regime had issued for various development projects.

Former premiers Yousaf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf had issued these directives during their tenures to carry out development projects of lawmakers under the People’s Works Programme (PWP) I and II, respectively.



The PML-N government has formed a six-member high-level party committee to review, assess, prioritise and categorise the PPP’s various ongoing schemes, The Express Tribune has learnt.

According to sources, out of the total 1,400 directives for lawmakers’ development works, 506 have been scrapped as work on them was yet to start, while the committee is assessing the rest of 900 directives on which work has been initiated.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Federal Minister of Planning, Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal confirmed the development and said that after the Supreme Court’s judgment in December last year, the government initially froze funding to all the PWPII projects and held departmental audit which found massive frauds.

“In their preliminary departmental reports, some projects have been found to be 90% and 50% fraudulent,” Iqbal said, adding that his ministry had sought record from the cabinet division and finance ministry about details of directives, which were executed later by both the ministries.

Iqbal said his party had abolished the PM’s discretionary funds and had decided to scrap 500 pending directives which had been issued by the PPP’s premiers.

“The party’s committee will call on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after two weeks and present its final report about the PPP’s ongoing schemes and other priorities,” he added.

The party committee

The high-level committee includes Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, Chaudhry Saud Majeed from Punjab, MNA Captain (retd) Muhammad Safder from Khyber-Pakhtunkwa, MNA Dr Darshan from Sindh and Minister for State on Petroleum and Natural Resources Jam Kamal from Balochistan.

In view of the immense pressure from party lawmakers for development schemes in their constituencies, the committee has been given a special mandate.

Due to the SC’s ruling, which curtailed the PM’s discretionary powers to issue funds for development projects, the committee cannot continue the PWP under the name of Tameer-e-Watan Programme (TWP).

It is pertinent to mention that when the PPP comes in power, it runs lawmakers’ schemes under name of the PWP and when the PML-N comes into power, it renames the PWP as the TWP and continues the practice. Now the committee will work in the place of the TWP.



The committee will assess ongoing schemes, categorise them and prepare priority lists as to which schemes should be completed in a speedy manner and which scheme should be slowed down.

The committee will also seek out a way as to how the PM could meet lawmakers’ demand for development schemes while observing the SC’s ruling on use of development funds.

Last week, the committee held its first meeting, in which Premier Nawaz assigned it the task and directed to submit it as soon as possible. The committee has held two more meetings since under chair of Ahsan Iqbal.

The party committee has decided that the ongoing schemes related to energy and communication would be completed immediately. The rest of the schemes would be slowed down and their funds will be diverted to other schemes.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2014.