KARACHI, Oct 2: The setting up of a full-fledged, effective, powerful and a vertically integrated federal textile ministry is in serious doubt because of the reluctance of the Commerce Ministry to give up its many functions particularly textile export and regulation of rich textile associations.

The Commerce Ministry at present holds jurisdiction over the Export Promotion Bureau that regulate and control more than $8 billion textile export, Textile Quota Management Directorate of the EPB with over $2 billion dollars export a year, Export Development Fund, Export Management Development Fund, all funded textile related institutions and more than 30 rich textile associations.

The federal textile ministry is being visualised as a vertically integrated one window facility that will conceive, frame and administer policies from cotton cultivation to marketing of the end-products.

Mushtaq Ali Cheema, a PPP turncoat from Faisalabad, elected twice the Chairman of Pakistan Cloth Exporters Association and is involved in an annual Rs2 billion textile export trade was sworn in as federal minister for textile ministry on September 2, exactly a month ago.

Till this day he has not been given any office and he operates from his private residence at Islamabad. Tehsin Iqbal was appointed additional secretary of the textile ministry in the first week of September.

Tehsin is reported to have been moved with the consent of his minister, a summary that spells out elaborately the scope of activities, the organizations and institutions that now operate under ministries of industries, commerce and agriculture to come under textile ministry and the administrative structure of the proposed ministry.

The proposed textile ministry is expected to conceive and frame trade policy, both domestic and international of cotton, wool, silk, jute, man-made and synthetic fibre and their blends, will do facilitation in matters concerning at least 15 federal, provincial and local government departments for investment and marketing under WTO regime, maintain liaison with economic related federal and provincial ministries and departments, State Bank of Pakistan, DFIs, Pakistani and foreign banks, Central Board of Revenue, Board of Investment, CIRC and other institutions.

Textile exports constitute 67 per of Pakistan's total export trade, generate as much as 9 per cent of the national income and engage as many as 38 per cent of the industrial labour in Pakistan and is a global trade that is open to wild international fluctuations, there is a consensus that textile ministry be run by highly educated professionals rather than the semi-literate bureaucrats from the Pakistan Civil Service Academy.

The Cabinet Division is understood to have sought comments from the various related ministries. None of the ministry is reported to have given their comments but Commerce Ministry is reported to have expressed serious reservations. "How can Humayun Akhtar can agree to a proposal that will reduce his status in the federal cabinet to that of minister of human rights or women affairs which are merely decorative offices," remarked a well placed source in the Commerce Ministry in Karachi.

The Cabinet Division is expected to issue notification on setting up of the federal textile ministry with its full scope of responsibilities and the organizations that will come under its control after getting approval from the Prime Minister.

An attempt to talk directly to Mushtaq Ali Cheeema, the federal textile minister on telephone proved to be a frustrating experience. "Don't quote me please," Cheema told this correspondent at least six times during four minutes telephonic conversation at Islamabad on Saturday.

He said bye-laws and bye-rules of his ministry are being framed and hoped that all exercise will be completed by next one week. But he was unsure when the ministry would be set up finally and with what responsibilities. All along the conversation he sounded tentative and indecisive.

Cheema conveyed in many words that there were many adversaries in Islamabad and he would prefer to maintain a low profile and accept the ministry with whatever responsibilities.

Businessmen in Karachi believe that setting up of a full-fledged, powerful, effective and vertically integrated textile ministry is the first test for Shaukat Aziz as the challenge comes from Humayun Akhtar who was himself a strong contender for the top slot in the cabinet. "Any compromise on this issue will put prime minister under pressure for long time to come," a leading garment exporter and well connected with Prime Minister said.

There is a virtual consensus among the businessmen on having a full-fledged and bureaucrats free textile ministry that should be capable of handling all issues from cotton cultivation, ginning, trading, spinning, weaving, value-addition and marketing of the products.

"We need professionals to tackle the issues involved in over 350 billion dollars global textile trade," argues a leading textile exporters. "We need people who understand international fluctuations, trends and are ready to face pressures that come in this trade," is the other argument.

China with a textile export of $80 billion manage textile business through a Textile Council with vast powers. India maintains an annual textile export of about $13 billion of which more than 50 per cent comes from readymade garments has a full-fledged textile ministry since 1985.

An attempt was made to set up a Textile Ministry in Pakistan during the decade of eighties. Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the most powerful member of late General Ziaul Haq cabinet and the then Czar of Pakistan's mighty civil service saw to it that the proposal to set up any such ministry is nipped in the bud. The same proposal has been revived again, perhaps out of necessity to accommodate as many members in the cabinet as possible.