Senate Functional Committee on Devolution on Thursday demanded of the federal government to announce 8th National Finance Commission Award and strengthen the role of provinces under 18th Amendment.
The Senate committee meeting, chaired by Senator Mir Kabir in Peshawar, placed the demands through a declaration shared with the media after the meeting. It also demanded increase in the Senate’s powers and asked the federal government to devolve the higher education to the provinces.
It also asked the government to call a meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) to resolve issues of the provinces. The Centre should pay Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) its arrears of the net hydel profit and Balochistan its arrears of the gas royalty. The federal government should also declare tobacco a provincial crop rather than a federal one and also establish a separate and independent secretariat for the CCI, it urged.
PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said, “The unelected establishment is seeking to take over the functions of the elected government. And within the elected structures the federation is encroaching upon the domain of provinces which in turn are reluctant to give powers to local governments in accordance with the Constitution”.
“The provinces should also look inwardly and devolve powers genuinely to local governments to create a strong moral base for demanding their rights from federation. The smaller provinces should also join hands in requisitioning meetings of the CCI in case the federation is reluctant to do so,” he added.
Senator Tahir Mashhadi of the MQM noted that the K-P government gave the committee the cold shoulder on its visit. “We are not asking for plots from the KP chief secretary rather we have come here to empower them then why the chief secretary is not seeing us,” he said, adding that in Sindh the chief minister, his six cabinet members and secretaries received the committee and sat with them.
Senator Usman Kakar said the federal government was transferring only those departments to the province which were not fruitful and whose devolution was in its favour.
Kakar also criticised the federal government for ignoring the smaller provinces in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Later, addressing a consultative meeting on “Implementation of 18th Constitutional Amendment’ arranged by Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) in cooperation with German Foundation Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) and Senate’s Functional Committee on Devolution Process, Senate’s Functional Committee on Devolution Process Chairman Senator Mir Kabir Ahmad Muhammad Shahi said that democracy and federal form of government were source of strength to country and Constitution of Pakistan devised layout to protect rights of the provinces within this system.
The declaration said that 18th amendment has not only augmented principles of democratic, parliamentary and federal structure but also expanded the view of participation, joint ownership of natural resources and administration.
It is the joint responsibility of federation and federating units to take steps for implementation of 18th amendment in letter and spirit. He said that basic and higher education is the right of people under the constitution of Pakistan.
The meeting among other was attended by Senator Rubina Khalid, Senator Usman Kakar, Senator Liaqat Taraqai, Senator Tahir Aleem Mashadi, Senator Taj Haider, Senator Ilyas Bilour, Senator Mohsin Aziz, Senator Jan Kenneth William and Deputy Speaker Mehr Taj Roghani.