18th Amendment implementation: 7 ministries set to go in provincial hands by June 30

Commission decides to simultaneously launch the third and fourth phases.


Qamar Zaman May 18, 2011

ISLAMABAD:


Due to delay in devolving ministries of sports, environment and women development under the third phase of the process, the implementation commission on the 18th Amendment has decided to devolve them under the fourth phase, along with four other ministries, in June.


The commission has decided to simultaneously launch the third and fourth phases of the ministries’ devolution and complete the process by the June 30 deadline despite the delay in implementing the third phase, said the commission chairman Senator Raza Rabbani after an informal meeting held at the Parliament House.

Meanwhile, it was earlier decided that the Environmental Protection Agency would not be devolved to the provinces, sources said.

Impending controversy

The transfer of health ministry to the provinces is likely to create new challenges, particularly for the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) since their newly-inducted health minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada was assured by the party leadership that his ministry would not be devolved for at least a year.

The commission is scheduled to meet again on Wednesday (today) for a briefing from officials of the health ministry.

Since Pirzada was recently reallocated the portfolio of the health ministry after he refused to take charge of the ministry of minorities’ affairs, its devolution may trigger a new turmoil in the ranks of the PML-Q.

Differences had earlier emerged between members regarding the devolution of the Higher Education Commission, provoking Senator Ishaq Dar of the PML-Nawaz to resign from the post of deputy chairman of the implementation commission in protest.

Commission’s task

Earlier, Rabbani had said that no employee of the devolved ministries would be rendered jobless nor placed in the surplus pool.

He had said that they would all be accommodated in other ministries and departments operating under the federal government.

The commission will examine the existing administrative structures of the federal government relating to the subjects being devolved and suggest a mechanism for a smooth transition of ministries to the provinces.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18th, 2011.

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