They were speaking at a consultation on 18th Amendment organized by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) at a local hotel on Monday.
Noted journalist and rights campaigner I.A. Rehman said that provinces were coordinates not subordinates to the federal government and 18th Amendment was an effort to devolve powers from the centre to the provinces.
He added that transferring resources and responsibilities to provinces was an endeavour to give back what already belonged to them.
Rehman said that the federation can be strengthened by devolving powers, adding that centre was convenient but powers should remain with people as everything has an impact on people.
While highlighting concerning areas related to 18th Amendment, Zafarullah Khan of the Centre for Civic Education said that the Council of Common Interests (CCI) was not meeting regularly. He said devising a national curriculum was a federal encroachment in the provincial subject.
Khan said that conversation for the 8th National Finance Commission (NFC) Award has not yet started.
The centre was reluctant to devolve powers while the provinces were lethargic to internalise and operationalise what they got through the 18th Amendment.
He said that federal culture was missing stressing the need for reforms in civil services.
Khan remarked that following the amendment it was difficult by military to take reins of the country as one would need approval of all the federating units of country.
Commenting on the fears surrounding the amendment, the speakers also showed concern over the statements of a few government ministers to revert the devolved ministries. They said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) ministers have off and on been issuing statements about reverting some of the devolved subjects like health and education.
“Provinces are the real Pakistan,” remarked Senator Afrasiab Khattak. He said that the good news for federal government was that the provinces can no longer blame that centre for depriving them of their rights. “The 18th Amendment is a win-win situation for federation and provinces.”
Commenting on the irregularity in the meeting of CCI, he said that both federal and provincial governments had power to call a meeting but they didn’t bother to do so. On the subject of curriculum, Khattak said, those who set flags of Pakistan on fire in Balochistan didn’t study another syllabus but the situation reached to that level after they were deprived of their rights.
Hafiz Hussain Ahmed of the JUI-F from Balochistan said that the Constitution was a mirror showing rights of centre and provinces as well as giving details of the rights of people.
He alleged that there was no writ of Balochistan chief minister and the provincial assembly in the province because the assembly was made on the basis of ‘doctrine of the necessity’ and failed to provide resources to the Baloch people. “The condition of health and education and the resources of the province being used by others are the same after 18th Amendment in Balochistan,” he said.
He added that Balochistan was still ruled by the security forces instead of the elected government. The speakers said that reforms were an ongoing process and it should continue to evolve.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 16th, 2014.
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