30 December 2004	Thursday	17 Ziqa'ad 1425

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KARACHI, Dec 29: Senior Minister Syed Sardar Ahmad told the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday that there was no deviation by the provincial government from its stance on the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.

He categorically stated that the government had always presented Sindh's case in the commission very effectively and would continue to do so in the future.

He also assured the house that the resignation of Mr A. K. Lodhi, a non-statutory member nominated by the Sindh government to the NFC, would have no serious implications.

He opposed the adjournment motion moved by leader of the opposition Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, as well as three other identical motions moved by Syed Murad Ali Shah, Humera Alwani and Shazia Marri, on the issue.

The movers had drawn the attention of the house to Mr Lodhi's resignation and sought suspension of proceedings to discuss the consequences leading to his resignation and determine reasons for his move.

Mr Khuhro said that people of Sindh were facing financial problems due to the delay in announcing the NFC Award. The situation, he said, had aggravated to the extent that people were committing suicide and development work in the province had come to a grinding halt.

Syed Sardar Ahmed, after giving a detailed account of Sindh's case vis-à-vis the NFC Award and presenting arguments on Mr Lodhi's uncalled for resignation, told the house that the next meeting of commission was scheduled for next month.

He pointed out that a former federal finance minister, Sartaj Aziz, had advised Sindh to accept the NFC Award the formula of which had been approved by the then president. However, he added, "we did not accept it this shows that Sindh had not deviated from its principled stand.''

After hearing both the sides, Speaker Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah reserved his ruling on the admissibility of the motions. Mr Khuhro also wanted to raise the issue of 3,500 contract teachers observing hunger strike for several days. However, due to paucity of time, the speaker had to read out the governor's order to prorogue the session.