Rs96b reserved in next budget for MPs' projects.

ISLAMABAD -- The federal government on Wednesday approved another supplementary grant for parliamentarians' schemes, as it plans to spend over Rs96 billion on projects being recommended by lawmakers during its fourth year in power.

The sum of Rs96 billion spending includes the Rs74 billion that will be utilised under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Achievement Programme, which is outside the regular development schemes approval process.

Headed by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet approved the diversion of Rs456 million for the interior ministry for meeting the requirements of the SDGs Achievement Programme, the finance ministry said.

The amount is over and above Rs24 billion budget that the PTI government had approved for SDGs plan for fiscal year 2020-21 ending on June 30.

The government had also earlier approved supplementary grants for the parliamentarians schemes being executed under the name of the SDGs programme.

However, in the next fiscal year 2021-22, the government has proposed a huge chunk of Rs74 billion for the SDGs programme. This sum is 208% more than this year's original budget.

An amount of Rs56 billion has been parked under the cabinet division as single line budget. It will be distributed among the projects that the SDGs steering committee will approve on the recommendations of the members of parliament.

Another amount of Rs18 billion has also been allocated as SDGs supplementary funds and is camouflaged in the uplift budget of the planning and development ministry.

In its last year, the PML-N government spent Rs32.6 billion under the PM's SDGs Achievement Fund.

Both the PML-N and the PTI have used the name of SDGs to push ahead with their political agendas.

The regular process for the approval of projects requires placing the development schemes for the scrutiny of the Planning Commission first, then for the Central Development Working Party and then for the approval of the Executive Committee of National Economic Committee, if the cost of the project is more than Rs10 billion.

However, the current government has greatly comprised this regular project approval process and has been clearing schemes worth billions of rupees, many in violation of the Public Finance Management Act 2019 that requires feasibility and economic rationales for adding a development scheme into the PSDP.

For instance, 20 road projects were approved in haste on May 27 and are parked...