KARACHI: The Sindh government was on Tuesday asked to set up a provincial finance commission to distribute funds among districts under the criteria prescribed in the National Finance Commission Award.

The Sindh Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution tabled by Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker Syed Khalid Ahmed in this regard.

Highlighting the need for setting up the PFC, the mover of the resolution said after the 18th amendment to the constitution the provinces were given financial autonomy by the NFC award. Based on population, area and revenue generation, the federal government after deduction of 48 per cent of the total revenue distributed the remaining amount among the provinces.

He said that the provincial government could also apply the same formula by keeping 48pc funds for its use and 52pc for allocation to the districts on the NFC basis. This would not only enable the districts to utilise their funds to execute uplift projects according to their priority but also remove their sense of deprivation.

Terming it an important resolution, Khwaja Izhar-ul-Hassan, the deputy parliamentary party leader of the MQM, said that after devolution of power from the centre to the province there was a need to move towards strong districts.

However, he said that the provinces were avoiding transferring authority to the lower level.

He lamented that Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah left the house when the MQM was representing the aspirations of the people. “If he does not like to hear complaints, the issue could be taken to the streets.”

He said if the PFC was not formed, a sense of deprivation would prevail among districts.

Heer Soho of the MQM said that every district had its own resources such as Thar produced coal and Badin and Ghotki had oil and gas reserves.

She said that until the resources were transferred to the districts, poverty and the sense of deprivation would persist.

Muhammad Hussain and Sabir Qaimkhani of the MQM said in the budget the annual development programme was of Rs165 billion, while the district development funds were Rs25bn.

They said that Karachi, consisting of six districts, had been given only Rs3bn, while all other districts were given over Rs1bn each.

They said corruption and financial injustices had forced the people to call for more administrative units and new provinces.

Sardar Ahmad Ali Pitafi of the Pakistan Peoples Party said that the mere allocation of funds to districts would make no difference if the amount was not utilised judiciously.

The formula ought to be that all wards of the districts should get their due share to remove the sense of deprivation, he said, adding that no one would be allowed to divide Sindh on any pretext.

Imtiaz Ahmad Shaikh, Nusrat Sehar Abbasi, Saeed Khan Nizamani and Nand Kumar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional endorsed the resolution, but said that it would have made a difference if the MQM had tabled this resolution while it was part of the government.

They said that the MPAs belonging to the opposition parties were not provided development funds as their counterparts on the treasury benches who were being given Rs40 million each for their development projects.

Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani and Dr Khattumal Jeevan of the PPP regretted the attitude of an MQM lawmaker for comparing the allocation of funds to Tharparkar to other districts.

They said that Tharparkar was the most backward and remote area of the province and had been facing drought for the past three years and it needed more attention.

They also claimed that during the last regime huge funds were given to Karachi but the utilisation was not judicious as no development work was carried out in the goths of Karachi.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Sikander Mandhro said that the provision for the formation of the PFC was already mentioned in the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013.

He said he was not opposing the resolution but only wanted to clarify that the federal and provincial governments did not keep with them whatever revenue was generated from all the four provinces. The funds were also utilised to give special development packages wherever required, he added.

The minister also rejected the allegations of injustice and discrimination to some districts.

After unanimous adoption of the resolution, Deputy Speaker Syeda Shehla Raza called it a day at 2.30pm to meet on Friday at 10am.

Earlier, Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani called the house in order at 11.15am.A privilege motion of Shahid Abdul Salam Thaheem of the PPP regarding misbehaviour by project director of the Shahdadpur Institute of Medical Sciences was referred to the standing committee on privileges.

The adjournment motion of Nusrat Sehar Abbasi of the PML-F regarding 10 deaths from use of home-made toxic liquor was ruled out of order by the chair being a sub judice matter.

The two private bills — The Sindh prohibition of corporal punishment and The Sindh reproductive Healthcare and rights — of Sharmila Faruqui were disposed of by the chair when lawmakers pointed out that being adviser to the chief minister, her bills could not be taken up on a private members’ day.

Dr Mandhro also pointed out that being adviser she had the status of a provincial minister and as such her bill could be treated as a government bill and not a private bill.

Ms Faruqui said that she had submitted the bills when she was not an adviser.

Syed Khalid Ahmad of the MQM protested over an inordinate delay in the inclusion of his private bill about senior citizens in the order of the day. The parliamentary affairs minister informed the house that the bill had been referred to the law department and soon it would be on the agenda.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2014