October 14, 2001	Sunday	Rajab 26, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 13: All the major provincial subjects/development programmes currently being looked after and performed by the federal government are being handed over to the provinces in line with the decision of devolution of powers.

As a first step, the government has decided to transfer 180 development projects, including 20 mega projects, to the provinces. The cost of the projects is estimated to be over Rs100 billion.

According to official sources, fresh provisions were being firmed up in the new National Finance Commission (NFC) award to transfer provincial subjects contained in the public sector development programme (PSDP) to the provincial annual development programmes (ADPs).

The sources said the provinces would not have to seek the approval of the central development working party (CDWP) and the executive committee of the National economic council (ECNEC) to conceive and undertake their development projects.

The provinces have been asked to give their final comments/ observations by Oct 31 about the federal government’s plan to hand them over all provincial subjects so that the issue could be taken up by the ECNEC and could finally be approved by the national economic council (NEC) — the highest body on economic decision making.

President Gen Pervez Musharraf is likely to preside over the NEC meeting soon to approve the decision of transferring provincial subjects to the provinces. Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz is reported to have floated the idea that the federal government should be relieved of provincial subjects and that the provinces should have their own development strategy.

The planning and development division has been working on the issue on the directive of the president and the chief executive.

The sources said 180 development projects would be transferred to the provincial governments with financial allocations. “But the provincial governments will have to take the responsibility to pick up the recurring expenditure after the completion of these 180 development projects”, said an official concerned, and added that all the related financial issues would be incorporated in the new NFC award.

The planning and development division was of the view that all projects irrespective of their cost be approved by the provincial governments and that they should not be considered by the CDWP and the ECNEC.

However, the sources said the ECNEC would continue to accord approval for those development projects which involved foreign aid or federal guarantees. “The federal government appears to have overextended itself to the areas/functions which belong to the provinces”, says a latest view of the planning and development divison.

According to the sources, the provincial governments have initially agreed that the provincial subjects/projects should be transferred to them with funds as provided in the PSDP 2000-2001.

The 180 development projects are in agriculture, water, population, education, health, rural development, tourism, physical planning and social sectors.

The agricultural projects in all the four provinces are to cost Rs16.5 billion. However, one of the major development projects, which will go to the provinces, is national drainage programme, which cost Rs32 billion in which the share of Punjab is Rs11 billion, Sindh’s Rs12 billion, NWFP’s Rs4 billion and the Balochistan’s share is Rs1.8 billion.

The second bigger projects is in the educational sector to establish 8.2 million non-formal basic educational community schools at a cost of Rs12 billion.