ISLAMABAD, June 30: Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Salim Saifullah Khan has said the government’s priority will be to pass the provincial autonomy bill from the present National Assembly.

He said the bill had almost been finalised and it would soon be presented in the assembly. He said his ministry and the National Reconstruction Bureau had been working on the bill for three years.

Mr Saifullah was talking to journalists after launching his ministry’s website here on Saturday.

He said proposals on provincial autonomy had also been received from leaders of the PPP, MQM and the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party. “The ministry backed their proposals because granting provincial autonomy is the need of the hour. We are living in an age of decentralisation.” He cited the example of China where almost every province operated its own airlines and generated income.

He deplored the opposition’s continuous boycotts from the assembly on the provincial autonomy issue. “The matter does not belong to the PML alone. It is a national issue and everyone has the responsibility to work for protecting national interests.” The minister rejected an opposition claim that the provincial autonomy bill was a political gimmick of the government.

He said they had floated a proposal about granting administrative control of seaports to provinces. The minister said a proposal put forward by the NWFP about increase in job quota would also be considered.

He said the government believed in equal and just distribution of national resources and had taken decisions in this regard with involvement of all stakeholders.He said the next meeting of the Inter-Provincial Coordination Committee would be held in Quetta on July 9.

Mr Saifullah praised the Inter-Provincial Coordination Division and the Ministry of Information Technology for launching the ministry website.—APP