- For politics or efficiency?
PTI’s government was formed by carefully stitching it together with independent members and second tier political parties, thus enabling Imran Khan to become the Prime Minister. This has resulted in a razor-thin majority in Punjab, the crown jewel in any federal government’s composition, leaving the PTI vulnerable to blackmail from those who sided with them rather than the opposition. Some had no choice but to join, others did so on the basis of certain guarantees. The latter variety expected disbursement of development funds from the Centre to spend on their respective constituencies, so as to ask for votes in the next general elections on the basis of those projects. When this did not happen within a year and a half, a bloc of disgruntled MPAs had to be pacified by the PM himself and now, presumably in order to avoid another batch of upset allies, he has transferred the Rs30 billion Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Achievement Programme (SAP) from Cabinet Division to the Parliamentary Affairs Division, for ‘effective inclusion of parliamentarians in disbursement of funds for small development schemes’. The Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, headed by Asad Umar, which gets control of the SAP every year, was turned down on the basis of ‘insufficient capacity’.
It is unclear what special capabilities the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry under Babar Awan, who was only recently acquitted by NAB in a misappropriation of funds case, possesses over the Cabinet Division that has been responsible for disbursement in previous years, operating under the exclusive discretion of the PM. The decision comes off as more political rather than one to increase efficiency, which is what the government is attempting to portray it as. The problem at the core of this arrangement is very different and more serious however; spending of development funds should be the sole prerogative of local governments rather than MPAs, and the PTI government has failed to hold elections to establish that system, much less devolve any powers to it. What is more, at a time when the country is facing an existential crisis due to the covid-19 pandemic, the federal government, rather than being fiscally responsible with the scarce funds available to it is willing to place the money in the hands of parliamentarians to spend however they please, with minimum transparency. The times demand more prudent money management.
