Legal eagles on Tuesday reprimanded Senator Mian Raza Rabbani for impeding the national response to the outbreak of dengue, saying the federal government’s assistance to provincial governments was inline with the spirit of the constitution and was in public interest.
Raza Rabbani had on Monday termed the National Health Conference convened by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani an inappropriate forum to discuss the issue, saying that since the health department had been devolved, the health moot was against the spirit of the 18th Amendment and the issue should be taken up in Council of Common Interests (CCI).
Talking to Pakistan Today, Senator SM Zafar, a member of the committee which formulated the 18th and 19th Amendments, said he did not agree with the views of Rabbani, as the prime minister was duty-bound to take steps to help evolve a national strategy against issues like the dengue epidemic, which was threatening the lives of the people across the country.
“Dengue is an issue faced by the people of all provinces. Though the subject of health falls in the provincial ambit, there is absolutely no bar on the prime minister holding a conference aimed at assisting a provincial government against the dengue outbreak,” he added.
He said the matter could have been discussed in the CCI if any province had objected to the support from the federal government, but since there was no objection, there must not be questioning from any quarter.
“The constitution does not bar the federal government in assisting and funding the provincial governments in crises,” he added.
Justice (r) Wajihuddin Ahmed also opposed Rabbani’s views, saying since there was no role of the federal government to encroach upon the provincial government’s ambits, there was no question of passing such controversial remarks.
“I think Rabbani is getting too much technical. If the federal government is infringing into the provincial government’s domain, then one has the right to raise the voice. However, if the United Nations or any other donor agency is going to invoke resources for victims, one should not be so hyper-technical, especially in a case when no province objected to the conference,” he said, adding that if any province had objected to the conference, the matter could have been taken up at the CCI.
He said the provinces were empowered by the 18th Amendment, but the federal government could still extend technical assistance to the provinces.
Justice (r) Tariq Mehmood also negated Rabbani, saying although health was a provincial subject, there was no bar on the federal government if it wanted to assist any provincial governments.
“Since dengue has been reported in all four provinces, the threat has turned into a national issue and almost all provinces are fighting it out. If the federal government seriously wants to assist the provinces, there is no constitutional bar on such a plan.”
“Huge funds are allocated as discretionary funds for the prime minister for calamity situations. The federal government, if deems so, can release additional funds to the provincial governments and can extend technical assistance to provinces. So there is no constitutional bar, what matters is the intent of such a conference,” he added.
