ISLAMABAD – Federal Minister for Inter- Provincial Coordination and Chairman of Implementation Commission on 18th Amendment, Mian Raza Rabbani on Monday lost his temper while defending devolution of Higher Education Commission (HEC) to provinces. During the question-hour session in Senate, he threw his notes on the table, while responding to questions raised by senators including Azam Swati, Dr Khalid
Mahmood Soomro, Wasim Sajjad,Javid Ali Shah, Haji Adil and former education minister Javed Ashraf Qazi regarding devolution of HEC to provinces. They were opposing the devolution. Former education minister Javid Ashraf Qazi said that throughout the world institutions like the HEC were part of federal government but in Pakistan implementation committee was going to devolve it, which he said was against the ‘national interest.’
He said that instead of devolution of HEC to provinces, curriculum developing authority for provinces should also be given to HEC. Upon this, Raza Rabbani lost his temper and responded to Javid Ashraf Qazi saying, “What are you talking about curriculum and HEC? Remember your tenure as education minister, when you opposed the role of HEC.” Rabbani said that since HEC was on concurrent list it must be devolved under the 18th constitutional amendment.
“Where were you people when the 18th Amendment was being passed?” he asked. He said that it was not the domain of the commission to add to drop any ministry and that the commission had its job to smoothen the devolution process. He said that employees of devolved ministries would be accommodated in the federal capital and no one would be dislocated or put in surplus pool.
He said that in the third phase of devolution, six other ministries including Interior, Finance, Revenue, Port and Shipping and Communication were coming under concurrent list and the cabinet had decides to devolve them.
