The fifth meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) on Thursday approved that the financing for current activities devolved to the provinces would be borne by the provinces and the federation would provide financing for vertical programmes in the health and population sectors. The meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, also concluded that all the provincial projects would be financed by the provinces except those being executed under the president’s or prime minister’s directives.
The CCI also approved that financing of universities’ expenditures as hitherto would be picked up by the federal government until the period of current NFC Award, which means that the funding for the Higher Education Commission (HEC) would continue until the period of the NFC award. The council decided that the matter regarding financing for National Commission on Human Development (NCHD) and National Education Foundation (NEF) would be considered in the next meeting. The Council also considered National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA)’s Annual Report 2009-10 and the State of Industry Report 2010 and noted the progress. The CCI also took note of steps taken by NEPRA.
The CCI decided to defer the consideration of Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Amendment Bill, 2010, until the next meeting of the council. It approved the privatisation programme for various power sector entities, proposing that a mode for privatization should be decided that ensured contribution and inputs by the provinces, particularly for the entities pertaining to the subjects in Part-II of the Federal Legislative List. This matter would also be brought in the next CCI meeting. The council accepted the legal position brought forward by the Government of Punjab regarding interpretation of Article 157 of constitution.
The council praised efforts by the provincial governments to augment the investments in power sector to meet the energy shortages. The CCI directed the federal government to make necessary amendments in the NEPRA Act or Electricity Act, whichever was required to facilitate generation of power by the provinces. The Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) Bill, 2010 was also approved by the council. Chairing the meeting, Gilani said the spirit of cooperation and understanding shown by the four chief ministers was a clear manifestation of the seriousness of the political leadership to resolve national issues.
