14 February 2004	Saturday	22 Zilhaj 1424

PESHAWAR, Feb 13: The National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) wants the NWFP government to reconstitute the provincial finance commission (PFC) and bring it in conformity with the commissions set up in other provinces, according to sources.

Officials told Dawn that the NRB had asked the provincial government to increase the number of the commission's members from the existing seven to 10 as stated in the Local Government Ordinance amended on Aug 15, 2002.

While Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan had reconstituted their PFCs in accordance with the amended version of the ordinance, the NWFP had yet to fulfil the legal requirement, said a local government and rural development department official.

The provincial finance minister is the head of the NWFP's finance commission and the local government and rural development minister, a district nazim, a tehsil nazim, the finance secretary and two economics experts from the private sector are its members.

Under the amended ordinance, a representative of a union council, one of the provincial planning and development department and the local government and rural secretary are required to be taken on the commission.

Sources said the local government and rural development department had asked the finance department to take steps in accordance with the NRB's instructions. The existing PFC in the NWFP will complete its one-year term on June 30 and the provincial government will have to reconstitute it for the next financial year.

Sources said the provincial government had agreed in principal to reconstitute the PFC and implement the NRB's plan. An official said the decision would be implemented after the consolidated version of the amended ordinance was finalized.

The provinces had proposed several amendments to the ordinance, which were being looked into by the federal government's authorities concerned in the light of instructions of the president and the prime minister, sources said.

Sources said that NWFP government was required to form a 10-member PFC before the start of the current financial year but it did not pay heed to the NRB's reminders in this regard. The seven-member PFC gave an interim award for the period till June 30,2004, for distributing resources between the province and the districts.