Decentralisation set to start next month

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to start the  decentralisation process, empowering provinces by devolving various ministries and divisions from next month under a plan agreed in the 18th Amendment.

The decision was taken at a meeting of a sub-committee working under a nine-member parliamentary commission, which is responsible for the implementation of the 18 Amendment.

During the first phase, as many as nine ministries out of more than two dozen would be devolved to provinces in September, officials told The Express Tribune here on Friday.

The landmark amendment calls for abolishing the concurrent (constitutional) list – a set of more than four dozen subjects which were supposed to be transferred to provinces within 10 years of the adoption of Pakistan’s original Constitution in 1973. But this never happened because of a military takeover just after four years.

Officials said ministries of agriculture, education, livestock, culture and social welfare were among the ministries likely to be handed over to the provinces in the first phase. The sub-committee, led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Ishaq Dar, is primarily looking into devolution’s financial aspects.

On Friday, it decided that funds and assets of these ministries would be transferred to provinces on a quarterly basis. Some officials said that half of the funds for the Higher Education Commission (HEC) are also likely to go to provinces. But this could not be verified. The Implementation Commission has already set a deadline of June 2011 for the completion of the devolution process.

Stressing the need for across the board political support for early implementation, Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani said that only timely implementation will ensure benefits of the 18th Amendment Act.  The prime minister was talking to Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, the chairman of the implementation committee of the parliament, here at his secretariat. According to a handout issued by the prime minister’s media office, Rabbani apprised him of the status of implementation process.

Federal Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan, Attorney-General Molvi Anwarul Haq and Secretary Law Muhammad Masood Chishti attended the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 14^th, 2010.