ISLAMABAD, Sept 9: The government plans to transfer up to 26 subjects out of a total 33 on the concurrent list to provinces to give them more autonomy. Informed sources told Dawn on Friday that the Eighteenth constitutional amendment bill had been planned for the purpose which would be tabled in parliament shortly.
The proposed bill will also contain a 50:50 resource distribution formula between federation and federating units under the long-awaited sixth National Finance Commission (NFC) award.
However, the sources said, even after provinces got control of additional subjects, an act passed by parliament on any item on the concurrent list would supersede the act passed by any provincial legislature.
Major issues relating to provincial autonomy and the 6th NFC award are likely to be finalized after the election of district nazims on Oct 6.
President Gen Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, ruling Pakistan Muslim League chief Chaudhry Shujaat Husain and head of the parliamentary committee on provincial autonomy Senator Wasim Sajjad are said to have agreed that six or seven items on the concurrent list should continue to be with the centre.
Functions likely to be transferred to provinces include food and agriculture, health, education, sports and culture, housing and works, information and broadcasting, narcotics control, tourism and religious affairs.
“Transfer of functions would mean transfer of resources to provinces,” a source said.
Some officials in the finance ministry were said to be against the 50:50 resource distribution formula. They are of the view that if the federal government accepts the formula then the Rs32 billion paid to provinces annually in grants and subventions should be stopped.
Since the finance ministry is already agreeable to offer 47.3 per cent of the resources to provinces, the difference comes to only Rs12 billion or 2.5 per cent (of resources).
“And if you distribute this Rs12 billion to provinces what they would get is just Rs3 billion each, so that is not a big issue,” a source said, adding that the real issue was transfer of functions, not transfer of resources.
The sources said the government had agreed that resource distribution should depend on functions to be allocated to provinces as well as local governments who were likely to be allowed to levy at least one tax to help them run their affairs.
The government seemed convinced that distribution of resources had to be on the basis of functions allocated to each tier of the government to ensure increased autonomy to provinces.
“After a thorough briefing from officials of the National Reconstruction Bureau recently, Chaudhry Shujaat favoured increased provincial autonomy but he did not want the federation to become weak by conceding on major issues,” a source said.
Chaudhry Shujaat and Mr Sajjad had already held preliminary discussions with the president and would meet him again soon to discuss important issues after which the president’s secretariat would finalize quantum of provincial autonomy and the new NFC award.
The president would then announce details relating to both the issues.
The sources said that several taxes, currently realized by the federal government, were not included in the divisible pool which also contained surcharge on petroleum, labour tax, workers’ welfare tax and workers profit participation tax.
But the federal government maintains that it is recovering only four taxes - income tax, excise duty, sales tax and customs duty.
