The provincial chief secretaries, who met on Monday to discuss collection and distribution of Zakat and Ushr after the 18th amendment, were unable to reach a unanimous decision, said an official privy to the proceedings of the meeting.
They will meet again in order to reach an agreement.
The Monday meeting, chaired by Punjab Chief Secretary Nasir Mehmood Khosa, was a follow-up of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani recently.
Sindh Chief Secretary Raja Muhammad Abbas said that the distribution of existing funds should be on the basis of collection, said the official. The federal government should collect the funds even after the passage of the amendment, Abbas said.
The Punjab chief secretary also said that the existing system was the most suitable for all federating units. In the existing system, resources are distributed among provinces on the basis of population. Under the system, the Punjab has the largest share, he added.
Ahmed Bakhsh Lehri, the Balochistan chief secretary, and Ghulam Dastagir, the KP chief secretary, however disagreed with Sindh and Punjab saying that the formula would deprive both their provinces. According to the official, they maintained that there was not much collection of Zakat in Balochistan and KP and therefore a distribution formula on the basis of collection would keep their share smll.
The Federal Zakat Council used to oversee the collection of Zakat after deduction by the banks and other withholding agents. The deducted funds were transferred to the federal government for further distribution on the basis of population.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2012.
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