18th Amendment implementation: ‘Bureaucrats creating hurdles in devolution’
The federal bureaucracy is creating artificial hurdles in the process of devolving responsibility from Islamabad to the provinces, said Senator Raza Rabbani, the federal minister for inter-provincial coordination, at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday.
Senator Rabbani said that the federal bureaucracy feared losing their “hegemony” over the government’s resources.
Federal bureaucrats have had a near-monopoly over public money since Pakistan’s independence, owing to the country’s highly centralised system. Rabbani pointed out that, with the promulgation of the 18th Amendment to the constitution and the National Finance Commission award, the financial resources of the provinces would increase every year.
“During the Musharraf administration, only a meagre amount used to be given to provinces,” said Rabbani. He termed the 18th Amendment a paradigm shift.
As part of the implementation of the 18th Amendment, ten federal ministries have already been devolved to the provinces and the entire process is expected to be completed by the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011. Senator Rabbani heads the commission charged with the implementation process.
Some areas of public policy that were previously the exclusive domain of the federal government are now being shared between the provinces and Islamabad. One such area is natural resources including oil, gas, mines and minerals.
“The Council of Common Interests (CCI) that has representation from all the provinces decides on these issues. But people sitting in Islamabad are annoyed over it,” said Rabbani.
“It is unfortunate that these bureaucrats seem busy trying to exert influence on policy through the back door, but now the 18th Amendment is part of the constitution and their false interpretation of the constitution will make no sense,” he added. Addressing the controversy surrounding the devolution of the HEC, Senator Rabbani said that the process will not result in any hindrance or interruption of funding to universities or scholarship programmes, including those received from foreign donors.
The senator explained that all foreign donations first flow to the government, which then makes the allocations. He said instead of the federal government receiving the foreign aid, it will be delivered directly to the provinces, as has already been indicated by several foreign donors, including the United States Agency for International Development.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2011.
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