Mystery of the devolved ministry

It seems to be a comedy of errors. A minister is appointed to a ministry after it was announced that the particular federal ministry had been abolished, as it was devolved to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Shehryar Afridi, former minister of state for interior, has been appointed minister of state for Safron (States and Frontier Regions) in the recent cabinet reshuffle. It is difficult to tell whether the decision was made by some government high-ups or is it an error committed by some government minions. The latter case usually happens in Third World countries. Everything does not necessarily has to have a reason.

After the change of portfolio, Afridi’s appointment was notified by the Prime Minister Office on Friday. The announcement has left people both surprised and bemused. According to media reports, it had been decided in the second meeting of the cabinet that the Safron ministry would be devolved to K-P because after the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with K-P, the Safron ministry at the federal level had become superfluous. It remains unclear whether the Safron ministry had technically been devolved or not. Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry had said in September last year that the government had decided to do away with the Safron ministry following the merger of Fata with K-P. “Provincial ministers will take care of Fata, so the government is abolishing the Safron ministry,” he had said.

The main responsibilities of the Safron ministry are related to the tribal areas. Knowledgeable sources say the Safron ministry lost its relevance after the 25th Constitutional Amendment passed by parliament in 2018 because all important subjects that were dealt with by the ministry have been devolved to K-P. Fata students’ scholarship and affairs of the Khasadar and Levies forces came under the Safron ministry. All these subjects were, however, supposed to have been transferred to the K-P government. Confusion surrounding the matter persists.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2019.

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