ISLAMABAD:
The federal government has yet to wind up 17 ministries operating in areas devolved to the provinces, setting the stage for a confrontation with a Senate panel seeking full implementation of the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
During a meeting on Tuesday, the subcommittee of the Senate’s Functional Committee on Devolution twice indicated that it might ask Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to appear before it and explain why the committee’s binding directives on the constitutional matter had not been implemented.
The committee also warned that it could issue warrants to summon Cabinet Secretary Kamran Afzal over his continued absence, while expressing dissatisfaction with responses submitted by an additional secretary-level official of the Cabinet Division.
PPP Senator Zamir Hussain Ghumro convened the meeting to review progress on the committee’s August 17 directives for winding up 17 ministries dealing with subjects such as education, health, agriculture, culture, environment and industry, which were devolved to the provinces in 2010.
The government’s position, following inter-ministerial consultations, is that it retained the ministries to fulfil international commitments and facilitate cooperation, said Hasan Naqvi, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division. He asked the committee to reconsider its earlier decision to close the ministries.
“Go back to the prime minister, as we will not review the decision taken by the Implementation Committee after the 18th Constitutional Amendment,” Ghumro said, describing the federal government’s responses as “contemptuous”.
Ghumro said the Constitution provided no basis for retaining ministries on the grounds of fulfilling international commitments. He said the Constitution dealt with international treaties, adding that under Article 173, provincial governments could also enter into international agreements.
The committee gave the government two weeks to wind up the ministries of health, education, national food security, water resources, climate change, housing, special initiatives, culture and heritage, railways, industries, statistics, petroleum, inter-provincial coordination, narcotics and planning and development.
The chairman observed that contrary to the constitutional requirement of giving 57.5% shares of the divisible pool to the provinces, the net resources that are transferred to the provinces were far lower after adjusting the impact of provincial cash surplus and net transfer to the federal government.
For the current fiscal year, the projected provincial share is Rs8.8 trillion. But out of this Rs1.7 trillion will be saved by four provincial governments under the IMF condition and another Rs1.1 trillion will be given to the Centre in grant for the first time to meet its growing expenses. The committee was of the view that the federal government has been encroaching the domain of the provinces.
It was pointed out during the meeting that the Petroleum Ministry was appointing directors of the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) without constitutional mandate. Under the Constitution, there should be a joint control of the federal and a provincial government where the oil and gas resources are discovered.
The Petroleum Division special secretary claimed that the federal government had the authority to appoint directors under the entry 15 Part One of the legislative list. However, when the committee reviewed the entry it was related to the affairs of libraries and museums.
The committee instructed the petroleum ministry to seek nominations of directors of PPL from the provincial governments. The committee reiterated its instructions to end the federal control over the Police Service of Pakistan, saying that the matter of the police service should be handled by the provinces.
On the issue of privatisation of the power distribution companies, the committee again instructed to seek fresh endorsement from the Council of Common Interests (CCI) about the privatisation of the power distribution companies.
But the Privatisation Division Secretary Hammad Shamimi was of the view that no fresh decision of the CCI was needed because it had given the approval in 2011. But the committee did not accept the plea and said that the 15 years old decision needed revalidation after change in the composition of the body.
The committee also questioned the federal government’s decision to dissolve the Capital Administration and Development Division and transfer its subjects to other ministries. The committee observed that the CADD had been established by parliament, and the federal government should not have dissolved it without the consent of the legislature.
