QUETTA, March 30: The Sixth National Finance Commission meeting held here on Tuesday made little progress with none of the provinces ready to budge from their stand.
However, federal Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz who presided over the meeting remained optimistic about the outcome and said that "the issue would be resolved through mutual understanding".
The finance ministers of all the four provinces, Syed Ehsan Shah of Balochistan, Sardar Husnanin Drishek of Punjab, Sardar Ahmed of Sindh and Siraj-ul-Haq of the NWFP and private non-statutory members attended the meeting.
According to sources, the representatives of all the four provinces explained their stand and wanted their demands accepted. "No province showed any flexibility on its stand," the sources told Dawn. All of them reiterated their stand that provinces should receive 50 per cent from the divisible pool of the federal government and refused to withdraw the demand.
The meeting discussed an offer made by Islamabad to part with 46 per cent of the taxation divisible pool for the provinces, and all the provinces refused to accept it.
The sources said that Punjab did not agree with other provinces on the issue of inducting indicators other than population for distribution of federal resources and demanded that the next NFC award should be finalized on the basis of population. Balochistan, Sindh and the NWFP reiterated their demand that population should not be made the main criteria for the next award.
Talking to newsmen at Governor's House on Tuesday night Mr Aziz indicated that some progress had been made and he expected 'some breakthrough' in Wednesday's meeting.
"I am hopeful about the outcome of the Quetta meeting," the finance minister said. "The demands and reservations of the provinces would be resolved with consensus," Mr Aziz said while replying to a question.
When asked about reports that President General Pervez Musharraf had summoned all members of the NFC and chief ministers of the four provinces in Islamabad on Wednesday, Mr Aziz said he was not aware of any such developed, adding that the Quetta meeting would continue on Wednesday.
Balochistan Chief Minister, Jam Mir Mohammad Yousuf, told newsmen that Balochistan would not withdraw its demand for more funds for the province. He said that other provinces should accept the demand of Balochistan keeping in view that it was the most backward province in the country.
However, he hoped that a consensus formula for distribution of federal resources would be worked out. The Sindh Finance Minister, Syed Sardar Ahmed, confirmed that all the four provinces maintained their rigid stance and showed no flexibility.
"I think this NFC meeting will end without reaching any consensus like the previous meeting," he said, adding that Sindh had no reason to change its stand. He said that Sindh was providing 68 per cent revenue in the federal divisible pool while Punjab's contribution was 29 per cent.
He said that Sindh was making the largest contribution to the divisible pool but was receiving only peanuts. "Sindh is not ready to withdraw its demand whether the NFC award is reached or not," Syed Sardar Ahmed remarked. The Balochistan Finance Minister Syed Ehsan Shah said that every province had its own stand for the distribution of federal resources in the next NFC award.
