18th Amendment: 5 ministries to devolve to Sindh this month

Decision made after meeting between CM Qaim Ali Shah and Federal Interprovincial Affairs Minister Raza Rabbani.

KARACHI:

Five ministries will be devolved from the federal to the provincial level in Sindh by the end of this month, including the ministries of health, tourism, social welfare, education and culture.

The decision was made after a meeting between Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and Federal Interprovincial Affairs Minister Raza Rabbani. The devolution of authority is a constitutional requirement following the passage of the 18th Amendment, which expanding the scope of powers of provincial governments and reducing that of the federal government.

The devolution process has been complicated by disagreements over financing. The Sindh government wants money allocated by the federal government to these ministries to be transferred to Karachi. The federal government’s position was that provinces had been given additional allocations already though in the meeting held on Saturday, Islamabad appeared willing to concede some ground.

“We are already facing a financial problem due to floods and are not in a position to continue different development schemes in the Annual Development Plan (ADP). How will it be possible to run the affairs of the devolved ministries without resources?” asked Shah.

Rabbani, who was accompanied by Federal Petroleum Minister Naveed Qamar, assured the chief minister that Sindh’s concerns will be resolved.

The federal government plans on completing the devolution process by June, according to Rabbani. There is, however, some confusion among the ministries that will be moved to the provinces.

Federal Health Minister Sagheer Ahmed said that neither the federal nor the Sindh government has consulted with them before devolving the Federal Health Ministry to Karachi and there is confusion over the process.

“All assets of devolved departments including lands, buildings, plants, machinery, furniture, equipment, transport and vehicles along with budget should be transferred to the provincial government at the time of devolution, so that we can work in smooth way. But I don’t know how it will happen and who will pay the federal employees,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2011.