Devolution hiccups: Senate panel to propose governance model for capital

Senate chairman asks treasury, opposition to propose names; no timeframe given.

ISLAMABAD:

While the 18th Amendment was being debated in parliament, it seems no member of the house realised that Islamabad is not a part of any province, creating a post-devolution mess in the capital’s federally managed services.

Now, almost four years late, the Senate on Monday decided to form a committee that will study different models of governance in leading capitals of the world and formulate its recommendations.

The upper house of Parliament discussed governance issues in ICT in the backdrop of the 18th Amendment, which largely ignored the capital’s local governance structure, particularly in health and education.

Responding to Senator Saeeda Iqbal’s motion, Senate Chairman Nayyer Bukhari decided to constitute a committee comprising members from both, treasury and opposition benches to study different models and submit recommendations to the house.

He asked the leaders of the house and the opposition to submit names for members of the proposed committee. However, no timeframe has been set for the committee to executive the task.

Earlier Iqbal, a PPP senator from the capital, moved the motion, citing the deteriorating conditions of hospitals, educational institutions and the lack of local governance system in Islamabad.

The Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) was created in the wake of the 18th Amendment and was supposed to execute functions previously performed by abolished ministries and divisions within the federal capital.

However, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government put CADD under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division with no minister to oversee it.

Iqbal said the management of issues related to health, environment, social welfare, education, rehabilitation of persons with disabilities and population welfare were all in disarray.

Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq, Senator Mushahid Hussain of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam, Tahir Mashhadi of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Afrasiab Khattak of the Awami National Party were among those who supported the motion.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2014.