Funds for MNAs
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The News International, Pakistan, Thursday, July 02, 2009
Rather unexpectedly, the prime minister has announced a doubling in the annual development fund for the 342 members of the National Assembly, raising the amount to Rs20 million for each fiscal year. It is not clear if the benefit will be extended also to the 100 members of the Senate, who, till now, had been on par with the legislators in the lower house. But even if this does not happen, it is quite obvious that there will be a considerable new drain on the exchequer as a result of the decision. Oddly enough, no mention of it had been made in the budget and the prime minister's announcement came as the budget session concluded. It is true that the money for each MNA is at no point handed over directly to her or him. Instead it is allocated for the implementation of development schemes in their respective constituencies. But despite this, it has always been seen since the practice was introduced almost two decades ago as a form of political bribery. The availability of funds to carry out works of different kinds obviously empowers MNAs and gives them clout within their constituencies. In the past there has been blatant misuse of this hand-out by not giving it to political opponents and thereby placing them at a disadvantage.
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Rather unexpectedly, the prime minister has announced a doubling in the annual development fund for the 342 members of the National Assembly, raising the amount to Rs20 million for each fiscal year. It is not clear if the benefit will be extended also to the 100 members of the Senate, who, till now, had been on par with the legislators in the lower house. But even if this does not happen, it is quite obvious that there will be a considerable new drain on the exchequer as a result of the decision. Oddly enough, no mention of it had been made in the budget and the prime minister's announcement came as the budget session concluded. It is true that the money for each MNA is at no point handed over directly to her or him. Instead it is allocated for the implementation of development schemes in their respective constituencies. But despite this, it has always been seen since the practice was introduced almost two decades ago as a form of political bribery. The availability of funds to carry out works of different kinds obviously empowers MNAs and gives them clout within their constituencies. In the past there has been blatant misuse of this hand-out by not giving it to political opponents and thereby placing them at a disadvantage.
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Labels: Funds, Legislators, MNAs, Parlimentarians
posted @ 10:03 AM,
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