November 15, 2003	Saturday	Ramazan 19, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: The federal government on Friday refused to increase allocations to Sindh for the timely completion of development projects in the province and asked the provincial government to enhance revenue generation for the purpose.

This emerged at a meeting between Sindh Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Mahar and Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz here on Thursday.

The Sindh CM had met finance minister to discuss the ongoing development projects in Sindh, an official statement said.

“The chief minister requested increased allocations for timely completion of the (development) projects,” said the official handout.

In response, the “finance minister urged the chief minister to increase revenue generation of the province to divert funds for development projects,” it added.

The Sindh chief minister also reiterated his government’s stance that distribution of net proceeds from the divisible pool should not be based on the principle of population alone, and that other factors like revenue generation and backwardness should also be given due weightage under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, sources close to the Sindh CM told Dawn.

The Sindh government is of the view that it is the largest revenue contributor to the national exchequer but it could not get its due share because of population as the only parameter of distribution of resources. The chief minister was told that he should raise these points during discussions on NFC award, the sources said.

These sources said the provincial chief minister also protested over the decisions of the meeting of the economic coordination committee (ECC) of the cabinet held on Nov 12 to extend the deadline for starting crushing season from Nov 15 to Nov 30 under an agreement with the sugar industry.

The chief minister told the finance minister that the provincial government should have been consulted before reaching an agreement with the sugar industry. The provincial government is of the view that sugarcane in Sindh was drying up that would cause substantial losses to the growers.

The CM himself could not be contacted despite repeated calls.

The Sindh chief minister and the federal finance minister also reviewed progress of these projects and emphasized the need for creating an efficient social infrastructure for providing quality health and education services to the people, the statement said.

The chief minister was also asked to encourage small and medium enterprizes in rural areas to promote employment and industrial development in the province.

They also reviewed progress on revamping of irrigation system, Lyari Bypass and other infrastructure projects, the statement added.