Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has said that under the 18th amendment, the federal government was refusing to devolve its functions, divisions and ministries to the province.
“This is an injustice with smaller provinces and this denial would further intensify a sense of deprivation,” he said while talking to a delegation of the Senate Functional Committee on Devolution Process.
The committee was led by Senator Mir Kabeer Ahmed Mohammad Shahi. Other members of the delegation included Nawabzada Saifullah Magsi, Tahir Mashahadi, Taj Hyder, Atta-ur-Rehman, Mohammad Usman Khan Kakar and Saeed Ghani.
The chief minister said that the PPP’s federal government had unanimously passed the 18th amendment in which all the parliamentary forces and parties were taken into confidence. In principle the federal government should have devolved the function, powers and assets of all the 18 ministries, he said, adding that that this denial was bound to aggravate the sense of deprivation among the smaller provinces.
The CM said that the devolution of Evacuee Trust, release of funds to the Population Welfare Department, transfer of directorate of central warehouse and supplies and the National Research Institute of Fertiliser Care Karachi, transfer of national coaching centre from Pakistan Sports Board, devolution of EOBI, workers welfare fund, OECP and OPF to the provinces, provincial representatives in the federal entities, devolution of institutions/office related to fisheries, matters pertaining to higher education and similar bodies and various others were still awaited.
“We have been raising our voice by sending letters and notes, but all of them are falling flat on deaf ears,” he deplored, and hoped the senate committee would fight the case for smaller provinces.
Supporting the chief minister, the chairman of the committee Senator Mir Kabir Ahmed Mohammad Shahi said that instead of devolving the 18 ministries, the federal government created another 12. “We have held meetings with the chief ministers of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and now are meeting with you (CM Sindh) and all of them have the same reservation,” he said, and added that he was quite happy that on this issue the provinces were on the same page.
He further said that the Chief Secretary Siddique Memon has given them a detailed briefing on the issue and the reservation of the provincial government, and also presented Sindh’s case in decent way. “Your case is quite strong and we would raise this issue with the federal government,” he said.
Murad Ali Shah thanked the senate committee for being the voice of smaller provinces to the centre and hoped that their efforts would bear fruit.
While talking to the delegation of Senate Functional Committee on Devolution Process, the Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah declared as injustic nondevolution by the federal government despite 18th amendment. He reiterated that such injustice will further increase the sense of devolution among the smaller provinces.
However, while being quite vocal about this great injustice by the federation towards the provinces, the CM seems least bothered about Peoples Party own dismal record of devolution within the province, which is supposed to take the benefit of deveolution right down to the masses.
In fact, through repeated hacking of the Sindh Local Government Act, the Peoples Party has stripped the local governments even of the powers and financial control that a military dictator had given them.
And to make it worse, these powers have been placed in the hands of the minister of a government which is not exactly famed for financial integrity and good governance.
Karachi
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