Census tops agenda as PM chairs CCI meeting today

Sindh will press centre to conduct headcount in March

ISLAMABAD/KARACHI:

The Council of Common Interests (CCI) will meet today (Monday) after a lapse of almost one-year to discuss a number of issues particularly the much-awaited population census.

According to a handout issued by the PM House on Sunday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will chair the meeting of the council which resolves power sharing disputes between the federation and provinces.





The CCI is required to meet after every three months. However, the federal government has called the meeting only after a ruling by Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani. The last meeting was held on March 18, 2015.

Apart from the census, the meeting will also review the status of important decisions taken in the last meeting and approve annual reports of the CCI meetings for years 2013-14 and 2014-15.

The meeting also includes briefing by Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on LNG import from Qatar. It will also review the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s (Nepra) Annual Report 2013-14 and State of Industry Report 2014.

“Formulation of National Flood Protection Plan-IV (2015-25) [and] pumping of drainage effluent, rationalisation of distribution of water from Hub Dam and early completion of Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) [will also be discussed],” said the statement.

Stance of Sindh

On Sunday, the Sindh government issued a statement after a consultative meeting – attended by Senior Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Law Minister Murtaza Wahab and Chief Secretary Siddique Memo – to highlight its stance on the issues to be discussed by the CCI today.



According to the statement, the Sindh government decided it would press the federal government to conduct the census in March as was decided. It noted that the centre has already deducted Rs126.624 million on account of the census. For the census, funds will be shared from the divisible pool by all the provinces jointly.

It demanded that in pursuance of Article 158 of the Constitution, consumers in Sindh must be accorded priority in supply of natural gas produced from wells located in the province. The members also demanded that under Article 161(1)(a) excise duty on oil should be imposed.

The Sindh government was of the view that the concurrence for allocation of 74 cusecs may be given with the condition that 1,200 cusecs additional water to Karachi city for K-4 Project may be provided from the common pool.

“The Sindh government has already supplied 1,200 cusecs water to Karachi city by curtailing the irrigation water of Thatta, Sujawal and Mirpur Sakro areas from its own share. Now the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board has raised an additional demand of 1,200 cusecs for K-IV project,” the statement said.



It demanded that the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Ordinance 2002 be amended in line with two proposed drafts in consultation with Sindh to provide for creation of a national body named ‘Commission for Standards in Higher Education and Research, Scientific and Technical Institutions’.

The meeting noted that the federal government had neither shared any meaningful information nor any copy of the LNG agreement with Qatar.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 29^th,  2016.