ISLAMABAD – With the passage of time not only the legislators individually but also the parliamentary committees are questioning the sagacity behind the devolution of certain ministries to the provinces. It was the education ministry as well as the national assembly standing committee concerned that opposed its devolution to the provinces and wrote to Implementation Commission chairman Raza Rabbani in this regard.
The National Assembly body on culture strongly opposed the devolution of the culture ministry to the provinces in the second phase of the devolution. National Assembly Standing Committee chairman Raza Hayat Hiraj submitted a resolution adopted by the body to Mian Raza Rabbani that the culture ministry should not be devolved to the provinces. The committee recommended that the ministry of culture, its attached departments and autonomous organisations should not be devolved to the provinces.
The resolution, however, said Pakistan Film Censor Board and museums should be handed over to the provinces as contemplated in the 18th Amendment. In a letter enclosed with the resolution and sent to Raza Rabbani, Hiraj said the culture ministry, through its departments, including Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) and Lok Virsa, had performed excellently for the promotion of Pakistani culture within and outside Pakistan.
Hiraj said most of the members of the standing committee were of the view that the culture ministry along with its attached departments and autonomous organisations except Pakistan Film Censor Board and museums should continue to function under the federal government in the larger national interest.
