November 18, 2003	Tuesday	Ramazan 22, 1424

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PESHAWAR, Nov 17: Representatives of all political parties in the provincial government’s special committee have lent support to the stand the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal led NWFP government will adopt at the NFC, according to official sources.

The special committee was established for adopting a joint strategy viz-a-viz National Finance Commission’s (NFC) maiden meeting on Tuesday.

A meeting of the special committee — notified as a Jirga by the provincial government — held at the Frontier House, Islamabad, on Monday discussed the possible stand the province would adopt at the National Finance Commission viz-a-viz certain issues vital to provincial economy and the strategy the NWFP representatives, in the NFC, may follow to serve the province’s interest.

The meeting was presided over by Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani and among others who attended included senior minister of the province Sirajul Haq, senior bureaucrats of the province and representatives of all the political parties who have been taken as members on the special committee by the provincial government as a good will gesture to adopt a unanimously agreed strategy for the upcoming proceedings of the National Finance Commission.

Sources told Dawn from Islamabad that representatives of political parties including Senator Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan of the PML-N, Senator Ilyas Ahmed Bilour of the ANP, member of the NWFP Assembly Murid Kazim of the PPP-S and others lend support to the provincial government’s stand to be adopted at the NFC and payment of Rs298 billion arrears recoverable from Wapda on account of net hydel profit.

Similarly, claimed the official sources, they agreed with the provincial government’s contention that distribution of resources between the Centre and provinces from the federal divisible pool should be made, under the new National Finance Commission award, by considering incidence of poverty and backwardness as parameters side-by-side population.

“They have assured the provincial government that they would also lend support to it by raising voice for the protection of the province’s rights at their respective forums,” claimed the source privy to the meeting.

The special committee was given a detailed briefing about the state of NWFP’s finances, issues pertaining to the new National Finance Commission and its stand over the long pending issue of net hydel profit.