Practice what you preach: MPAs decry Sindh’s bias in distribution of funds

Resolution passed to set up finance commission to distribute funds among districts.

KARACHI:

After a heated debate on the 'inequitable' distribution of financial resources in the province, the Sindh Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution to set up a provincial finance commission to distribute funds to districts as per the prescribed criteria in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.

The resolution, which was moved by Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPA Khalid Ahmed, dominated the proceedings for the day. "The funds should be distributed among the districts according to certain criteria, for example the population, backwardness, revenue generation and size of the district," suggested the majority of the lawmakers of the ruling and opposition benches.

His party, after parting ways with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)-led coalition in the provincial government, had applied for opposition benches on Monday. The MQM MPAs, however, continued to sit on the treasury benches as the speaker is yet to take a decision on the application.



Ahmed referred to the political parties' struggle to obtain the provincial government's share from the NFC award. "After a long struggle, the NFC formula was devised under which 42 per cent of the share from divisible pool goes to the federal government and 58 per cent to the provinces," he reminded the lawmakers. "We want to apply the same mechanism in the Sindh government."

PPP MPA Sardar Ahmed Pitafi claimed that his home district, Ghotki, generated the most revenue after Karachi, but the infrastructure in the district was in a deplorable condition. "There are plenty of gas fields and fertiliser factories in my constituency but you will not find a normal road there," he said, adding that Karachi was given enough resources, but Ghotki and Tharparkar districts had been outright neglected. "The public outcry for a new province is being made because of discrimination in the distribution of resources," he claimed. "The government should make a plan to negotiate with the estranged people and resolve their genuine issues."

MQM MPA Mohammad Hussain presented facts and figures about local government funds being distributed among the districts. "The funds for Tharparkar exceed even those for Hyderabad, Sukkur and Mirpurkhas," he said, adding that a total of Rs25 billion had been allocated for local government in the current budget, out of which Rs2.5 billion have been given to Karachi, Rs483 million for Hyderabad, Rs316 million for Umerkot, Rs1.2 billion for Sukkur and Rs1.48 billion for Tharparkar.

This irked the MPAs of Tharparkar. Dr Khatumal Jewan of the PPP said that the MQM's objection to the budget allocated for Tharparkar had exposed how sincere they were to the people of rural areas, especially Tharparkar, which had almost no source of income. "For the last three years, there has been a severe drought in the area that is spread over 22,000 square kilometres," he claimed. "What is wrong if the incumbent government has given relief to the most neglected people?" he questioned.

The chief minister had already left the house at the start of the debate on the provincial finance commission. This seemed to further irritate the opposition MPAs. Pakistan Muslim League - Functional MPA Imtiaz Shaikh remarked that all the towns and cities of the province were littered with garbage due to the PPP's poor performance. "Today, the MQM MPAs have raised this issue after they left the government," he said. "It would have been more apt if they had taken a stand on it when they were in the government."

The PPP, however, had a different opinion. Parliamentary affairs minister Dr Sikandar Mandhro rejected the notion that the government was biased when it came to distribution of funds. "The Sindh government has already set up the provincial finance commission," he told the opposition members. "It is part of the Sindh Local Government Law. The chief minister has signed the summary and the commission will be made functional soon." It was private members day and seven bills, five resolutions and five private motions to discuss various issues were on the agenda. Most of the time, however, was consumed by the finance commission resolution and only two private bills - the Sindh Environmental Protection (Amendment) bill and the Sindh Highway Patrol Bill - were introduced. Later, the speaker adjourned the session till Friday.

Women parliamentary caucus

As the session started with Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani in the chair, women lawmakers were given time to speak about the women parliamentary caucus formed in the provincial assembly to enhance the participation of women in parliamentary activities. After the National Assembly, Sindh is the first province to have launched such a caucus.

Speaking on the occasion, deputy speaker Shehla Raza urged all parliamentary parties to give a free hand to their women lawmakers to take part in legislation on women-related issues. “Our male members should also take a keen interest in resolving women’s issues,” she said.

Speaker Durrani reminded the house that he had not only played a major role in setting up the women’s caucus, but requested the chief minister to morally and financially support.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2014.