The government has completely politicised the distribution of Khushal Pakistan Programme (KPP II) and Khushal Pakistan Fund (KPF) allocations, and the concerned authorities including the Planning Commission have turned a blind eye to this malpractice.
Sources told Business Recorder on Friday that almost all pro-poor allocations are being spent in the ruling MP constituencies. Some parliamentarians in the opposition opposed to this mechanism, which ensures the spending of public money only for political ends of the ruling junta, sources said.
These programmes, which are directly linked to pro-poor spending of the government, are part of the budgeted Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2007-08. In principle, the PSDP allocations should be spent without any political consideration to ensure development of all backward areas.
Previously, the government had very good programme in the shape of Khushal Pakistan Programme (KPP I), which has been allocated Rs 4 billion during the current fiscal. Under this programme, every MNA both from opposition and treasury were entitled to get funds for launching small schemes in their constituencies. According to the sources, this programme was almost taken over by and the KPP II and KPF. The implementation mechanism of these programmes is very dubious and only the ruling MPs are getting benefit from these programmes.
According to the PSDP 2007-08, the allocation of the KPP II is Rs 20 billion that include Rs 10 billion for new projects, Rs 5 billion for ongoing schemes and Rs 5 billion for village electrification. The KPF allocation is Rs 10 billion.
The sources said that distribution mechanism of KPF being pursued by the government also raised serious reservations among the opposition lawmakers. Under this programme, the government is planning to release Rs 50 million to each district. The government wants to release this amount only to the leaders of the ruling PML in each district. Through this way, the government is keen to get political benefits by releasing this amount even to unelected people mostly in the NWFP and Balochistan, where the PML has very negligible number of elected people.
There is fear if this mechanism is allowed to go on, there is a possibility that most the KPP II and KPF funds would be spent in Punjab followed by Sindh because these two provinces have the elected people from the ruling coalition.
The Planning Commission is of the view that most of these projects are approved at the Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP), which is intra-departmental or intra-ministry body. Most of the schemes do not come for the scrutiny of the Central Development Working Party (CDWP), which meets every month under the chairmanship of deputy chairman Planning Commission (PC). The ministries have the requisite power to approve such projects without consulting the PC.
However, sources say that Planning and Development (P&D) Division is involved in the approval of these schemes. The officials of concerned wings of the P&D do attend the meetings of DDWP and it is in the position to object to projects being launched purely on political consideration. The sources said that recently at the DDWP meeting more than 135 small schemes costing over Rs 230 million have been approved only for the Punjab MPs.
MNA Dr Atta-ur-Rahman told Business Recorder that the opposition MPs have their strong reservations about the implementation mechanism of these projects. From time to time, the opposition legislators filed objections, but they went unheard, he said.
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