As alarm bells have already started ringing in the PML-Q following reports of the devolution of the ministries it secured in the power-sharing deal with the PPP, Chairman of the Implementation Commission Raza Rabbani on Thursday said loud and clear that the ministries of Health and Labour and Manpower would be transferred to the provinces under the 18th Amendment.
Per the PPP-PML-Q power-sharing deal, Pirzada was awarded the Ministry of Minorities Affairs and Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain was given the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis.
However, Pirzada refused to take charge of the allotted ministry and was given charge of the Health Ministry, which is now being devolved. Similarly, Wajahat was also given the Ministry of Labour and Manpower after his displeasure with the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis.
The president had assured the PML-Q that the ministries allotted to the party would not be devolved, but Rabbani has now made it clear that the devolution of the ministries to would go ahead as scheduled all costs and the three ministries given to the PML-Q ministers would also be part of the process, as no directions were handed down by the president or the prime minister for not devolving the three ministries.
A meeting of the Implementation Commission was held on Thursday to review the devolution of ministries to the provinces. Secretaries of Petroleum, Health and Women Development ministries briefed the commission on the transfer of their respective ministries to the provinces.
A source told Pakistan Today that the Petroleum secretary tabled a report regarding the distribution of the ministry’s resources among provinces.
Expressing satisfaction with the report, the commission directed the ministry to table the report in the upcoming meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI), the source added.
After the meeting, Rabbani told reporters that the devolution of ministries to the provinces under the 18th Amendment was mandatory and the process would be completed by June 30.
To a query, he said the commission had received no directives from the Presidency or the Prime Minister’s House for not devolving the ministries with the PML-Q.
Rabbani said the future of federal government employees would be secured at all cost after the devolution.
