Sindh to gain control of 5 departments on Dec 1

Tussle begins over departmental funds versus their liabilities.

KARACHI: The federal government will hand over five departments to the Sindh government by December 1, said Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Qaim Ali Shah on Friday.

This transfer is part of the first stage of the devolution of power to the provinces according to the 18th Amendment, said Shah, while chairing a meeting at CM House. He added that five departments - population, zakat, social welfare, youth affairs and local government - will be devolved on November 30.

Shah said that the devolution plan made it clear that the provincial government will also look after the finances of these departments, apart from standing by the rights and responsibilities given to the province under the Constitution.

The federal government has hinted that it does not want to hand over the financial rights of these departments but this will create losses for the provincial governments, said Shah. It will also be wrong to give provinces the liabilities, he added.

He directed all provincial legislators and officials to formulate a proper strategy so that the federal government can be informed of Sindh’s reservations during a meeting, expected to be held in Islamabad soon.

The chief minister informed the meeting that the State Bank of Pakistan has over Rs10 billion worth of Zakat reserves. These funds should be distributed in those areas or provinces from where they have been collected and Sindh should be given its share, he said.

The provincial government will pay the salaries of the employees of these new departments only when the government has accepted that it has taken responsibility of these departments, Shah clarified.

Shah said that the Ministry of Labour also has reserves amounting to Rs13 billion in its worker welfare fund. According to the Employees Old-age Benefits Institution, the federal government has a substantial amount of money to work for the benefit of these workers. This sum should be distributed among the workers based on the percentage of workers in each province, he demanded.

The chief minister formed a committee to come up with a programme to deal with all issues associated with the implementation of the 18th Amendment.

Sindh Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah, Sindh Minister for Local Bodies Agha Siraj Durrani, Sindh Minister for Youth Affairs Faisal Subzwari, MPA Syed Sardar Ahmed, Sindh Chief Secretary Ghulam Ali Shah Pasha, and other officials were present in the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2010.